June 4th’s place in Ghana at 50 Have we as a country learnt any lessons or could June 4th have been avoided?
The events of June 4, 1979 will continue to evoke discussion and passion for a long time in the history of our dear nation Ghana. On June 4 1979, I was a young student who had just left sixth form and freshly arrived at the gates of the University of Ghana. While I was not a direct participant of the events of 4th June, like any other citizen of Ghana, one could not help but be profoundly affected by the events of that day. June 4 came as a logical conclusion of the struggle waged by students, organized labour groups, professional bodies like the GBA and GMA etc against the concept of Union and the decadence into which the senior ranks of the military had sunk after several years of dabbling in the political administration of this country. The event evokes extreme passions not only for those who believe in the ideals of the uprising, but also those who dislike the events of that day. However, like it or hate it, pleasant or unpleasant, the events of June 4 cannot be wished away and stands as a major landmark in the 50 year long history of our dear nation Ghana. It may not be celebrated as a holiday today, but I do not agree with those who say the day should not be marked or comemorated. It must not be a day for celebration, but a day for sober reflection on the fate of all the actors who were caught up in this political hurricane and paid the ultimate price. It must be a day where all in leadership ask themselves solemnly if they are living up to the tenets of accountability to the people. It must be a day when we ask ourselves why are we so arrogant in a power that is so transient, bestowed by the people today and taken away tomorrow if they so wish. We leave permanent footprints in the sands of time only by the things we do in office that help to make the life of the ordinary citizen better.
June 4th marks a watershed in Ghana’s history. It was the day on which all the social and political tensions that had their roots in developments over the previous five years of a centrally planned economy, the era of controlled prices, kalabule, and crony capitalism all came to a head. Today, for most people all that they remember of this momentous event is the excesses and human rights abuses that occurred in a situation where command and control of the Ghana Armed Forces had virtually broken down. For most, the critical factors that led up to this uprising are just a distant memory. And indeed for the much younger generation their knowledge of the event is just what they glean from the newspapers and the few books that have been published on the event. For those who lived the reality, the violence associated with the uprising was a reflection of the frustration and anguish of a population who had been used, abused and then neglected by the military leadership of the time.
Like the French Revolution which got rid of the monarchy and laid the foundation for French democracy, Louise XVI , his wife and many members of aristocracy were led to the guillotine. On hindsight we must feel compassion for persons who suffered in such an extreme manner, but at the same time it is important to comprehend the strong political and social forces that lead up to such events. I do not believe in judging the past with the lenses of the present.
As we reflect on Ghana’s 50 years of independence it is important for us to remember that June 4th was not an aberration. It was not an event that came out of nowhere and could be considered as a bad dream that can be forgotten now that we have become a democracy. We should recognize it as a response from the mass of our people who thought they had run out of options and therefore had no other alternatives. We must never return to the situation where a leadership lords it over the masses and leave them with no options or opportunities for change.
Throughout the years since June 4th we have recounted and relived the events of that day several times over. As such I do not see the need to relive those events again today. But I think that June 4th presents a host of lessons for leadership and it is those lessons I would like to draw on as we consider June 4th and Ghana @ 50, and whether it could have been avoided.
On the question of whether June 4 could have been avoided, my answer is no. As a person who studied history in the university I very much loved the theory of “If” in history. If this had happened, that would not have happened. For instance it is said that If Hitler had committed more forces to the eastern front and vanquished the Russians in the summer offensive before the onset of the winter, it would have changed the course of history and the Second World War. Such reasoning does not take into cognition the valiance and determination of the Russian resistance. Such reflections are done with the luxury of hindsight. Those who wish to indulge in the luxury of the unlived experience are free to do so, but the truth is that there are strong social forces and factors at play, whose dynamics lead to important historical events. It is the convergence of such social forces that led to the unrest of June 4, given the scale of the people’s anger at the depravity of the military regime at the helm of government at the time. It is therefore difficult to sit in the present and speculate on what would have happened if you varied the effect of those factors. The seeds of June 4 were sown on the day the SMC was formed. Indeed even probably on the day General Acheampong ascended to power in this country.
All we can do with historical events is to the learn the lessons they provide in order that we can repeat the positives and avoid the negatives or slippages. The more important question for me therefore is the lessons learned from June 4.
Perhaps the first and most important lesson June 4 holds for Ghana, is the issue of accountability. Ultimately, sovereignty rests in the hands of the people and leadership must be accountable to them. There are many places in our 1992 constitution where the issue of accountability is emphasized. Indeed I do remember that during the Consultative Assembly, there was a stormy debate about the inclusion of the words probity and accountability in the constitution. In Chapter 12 of the same constitution the media is given the role of holding government accountable to the people. It is clear therefore that leaders are accountable in their actions to the people. It is therefore imperative that any persons that find themselves in Government at anytime in this country, remember that they serve at the pleasure of the people and must exercise modesty and honesty in the way they exercise that authority entrusted to them. One ignores this at his own peril. As history has shown, if you abuse your authority, it may take a long time, but eventually justice would catch up with you.
The bulk of the anger during June 4 was against a corrupt elite and a rotten system of import licenses and chits for so called “essential commodities”. The attacks on market women and their brutalization was therefore a reflection of the people’s anger at a system that favoured a narrow elite, while the majority suffered in poverty. The targets of the people’s anger was however completely wrong. It was not the fault of the ordinary market woman who stood at the long end of the chit system and probably received the goods after it had passed through 10 other hands, but the fault of a bankrupt leadership that superintended a system that promoted hoarding, kalabule and corruption.
Corruption still remains a menace today 27 years after the heady events of June 4. Even under the 4th Republic corruption has adopted even more sophisticated forms. It is necessary for the people to insist on the strengthening of anti-corruption institutions under this constitutional dispensation, in order to remove the cycle where one government’s corruption is only exposed and dealt with by a succeeding administration. If these institutions are strengthened, corruption occurring under an incumbent administration can be identified, investigated and dealt with during the tenure of that administration.
June 4 was a strong statement by the people for a return to democratic governance and the opportunity to have a say in the way they are governed. This probably laid part of the foundation for the rights and freedoms we are currently enjoying under the 4th Republican Constitution.
Government must govern in the interest of the people. Every decision of leadership must be weighed against the short and long term effects it would have on the people we govern. Indeed it is necessary wherever possible to carry out broad consultations on major decisions taken by government.
June 4 also teaches us that it is not enough to insist on integrity and vision but to demonstrate it on a daily basis in order to gain the support of the masses. There are those who have said Ghanaians are the most difficult people to govern. I disagree. Ghanaians are cooperative and indeed enthusiastic of a government that they perceive as modest and caring for their welfare. They have risen to the occasion at several critical junctures of our history. In the struggle against colonialism under the leadership of President Nkrumah and post colonial nation building. Under General Acheampong policy of “operation feed yourself and your industries”. Under Flt Lt Rawlings Cocoa evacuation exercise. The people would always rise to the occasion if they believe in word and deed that the leadership is interested in their welfare and is carrying out actions that would ultimately improve their lot.
While the lessons of June 4 are critical to learn as a nation, they equally apply to our tradition as a political party and are probably even more applicable to us than anybody else. The question we need to reflect on this June 4, is whether as a party or government we have been true to the tenets of June 4. For the NDC as a party that claims June 4th as part of it’s heritage this is a critical question. As a result of our June 4 antecedents, we are held to a higher standard of accountability than our political opponents, and maybe rightly so. Many things for which this current government has been treated with kids gloves by the media and civil society, would have been high crime if they occurred under our watch as apostles of probity and accountability.
Several of our supporters have come to me and said “The NPP has taught us how to chop power. Honourable if you people win again and you come with your revolution and anti-corruption nonsense, we the supporters will deal with you”. But the truth is we cannot change our measure of accountability. We have to remain true to our antecedents.
We are at the sorry state where people say there’s no real difference between ourselves and our political opponents the NPP (obia baa, saa). We must sharpen the contradictions. We must conduct ourselves and fashion an ideological programme that marks a clear difference between ourselves and the NPP.
We must deepen internal democracy within our party. We must allow a natural succession of leadership at all levels especially at the constituency and branch levels that allow new people to participate and inject fresh ideas into the party. It is only by doing so that the party can renew itself and remain relevant in contemporary politics. We must learn from other parties. In Britain the Labour party under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown had to restrategise and change their orientation to end the string of defeats they had suffered at the hands of the Tories in British politics. We need to restrategize too but must remember to remain true to our founding principles of social justice.
I believe also that we must reach out to like-minded parties in the opposition. We must not treat the decision of Sekou Nkrumah to join the NDC as an isolated incident. We must turn it into a platform to bring together into a coalition all parties on the left of centre. If it means sharing power with them so be it, we must.
We must also confront and deal with wrong perceptions of our party, that we are ungodly, violent, anti-media, anti-business, undemocratic etc. Somehow these perceptions have been planted in the public mind by our political opponents. We need to work hard to dislodge them. We must show to the people that given the opportunity again to govern, we will do a much better job than the NPP. As a human institution, we must have made some mistakes in Government. How do we build on the positives and minimize the negatives?
These are some of the reflections I think we must concern ourselves with on a day like this. We must not make the blood that was shed be in vain. If we rise on the wings of that upheaval and create a better and just society for our people, it will all have been worth it.
