A National Conference The Only Way Forward.

Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2008 14:16:04 -0000

When the French People saw in the 18th Century that there was too much corruption in their political systems, they called a National Conference in one of their national stadiums and decided that until a new constitution which took account of all the aspirations of the poor,maligned,disrespected,abused peoples at heart, they would not leave,which led to the widely publicised French Revolution. Students of the French Revolution would tell you what happened on those few days Louis and all the government officials were mullioned that day.

Most of us supported Rawlings' so called June 4 1979 Revolution for we believed that the skinny Flt. Lt meant what he said in his maiden speech to the nation. We trusted him when he mounted Jeep Tops to articulate his vision for our country. We believed when he started to purge the military establishment where most of the corruption erupted. We supported him when his: Probity and Accountability call was the national song sang everyday. We believed that this young soldier had the interests of our country at heart so we were prepared to support him even when he used violence to eliminate his perceived opponents such as Kutu Acheampong,Afrifah,Akuffo,Yaw Boakye,Odartey,Roger Felli,Amedume, Kotei and many others he executed all in the name of 'Rawlings Revolution.

The question we have to ask is very simple, in the French Revolution it brought cohesion and patriotism and did away with Polarisation. Look at the gains the French made after having eliminated all the so called corrupt King and his ruling class. What did the Rawlings'Revolution of 1979 and the 1981-1992 achieve? It set Ghana backwards because it allowed Rawlings a free hand to introduce into the Ghanaian Political establishment,a new class of politicians built solidly behind Tribal lines. Ghana as a nation had suffered under tribal conflicts until our independence because until the advent of White Colonial domination or colonialism, all the tribes in the then Gold Coast were tearing each other apart. I support the NPP with all my heart but I give credit where it is due, I was a young pioneer and one thing our first President taught us as Ghanaians was patriotism and I remember that from 1957 until the soldiers besieged our social and political lives, no document designed in Ghana showed one's tribe. To fill any document one didn't need to put their tribe but rather put their nationality and that was it.Why did the soldiers do away with that and especially the one person who had presided over our nation uninterrupted from 1979-1981 Rawlings can best answer that. Let us go back into history to trace when these TRIBAL connotation resurfaced.

What am I driving at ? People are talking about change and what type of change as a nation are we calling for? Are we as nation asking to change the NPP government just because they are perceived to be corrupt and if they are corrupt how do we measure the level of their corruption as compared to past governments?. If there is objectivity in our political scene, would there be corruption when just between 1979-2000 Rawlings had eliminated all forms of corruption from our society? After all Rawlings murdered and executed all those who were corrupt in our society so would corruption resurface within 19 years? The NDC as a political party has not got anything new to offer Ghana. Now they tell us they want to come back to power to effect a change, to me the only change they ever know to offer Ghana is Tribalism,Nepotism,Abuse,Suppression of our fundamental rights. They would like to make as zombies but I think Ghanaians are smarter than that. They won more votes in the just concluded Parliamentary elections but equally they lost 16 seats and one may ask,why should they lose votes if in reality they felt the out-going government did not do well over those 8 years. The answer is simple, they lost those 16 seats because to their followers,the NPP offered them so much resources they could have utilised meaningfully to bring transformation into their lives.

Changing personnel is not the solution to Ghana's Economic,Political and Social problems. No matter whoever wins the Run-Off on 28th. December 2008, Ghana needs a National Conference where as a nation we shall set the national agenda that we would like the Ghanaian Politician to carry out. Ghana even though has made tremendous progress in terms on infrastructure such as roads,schools,clinics and other things that have transformed the lives of our people but much more could be done. All those nations that have attained national development did not allow politicians to set the agenda. The National Development Plans should originate with the broad masses of the peoples and this we must do to move this lovely and beautiful country forward. Over to President Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo Addo or President Atta Mills.

J. Owusu-Ansah