Power is one thing I have always not understood. It is a life’s
mystery, may be this amounts to the notion that every human being is a political
animal. Hence once one is born, he is bound by a social contract to participate
in politics be it active or passive. Although for some people, politics is a
tool for ascending to various heights, however, it must be remembered that like
a ladder it’s also a tool for pulling down and grounding highly respected
personalities.
Are Akans endangered species? I put this question because it’s
something I feel must it be answered and once this is settled then the comment
of Nana Addo will either gain or lose weight. Are Akans endangered species? The
key word in this question “endangered” is derivative of the noun Danger, meaning
exposure or vulnerability to harm or risk. Permit me to build on, what harm or
risk are they exposed or vulnerable to? But before I make any inference let’s
look at a translation of the statement Nana Addo made, “they have intentions to
intimidate us in 2012 because they believe that we the Akans are soft and
cowards. If that is the thinking, then we shall see. At least during the Atiwa
bye-election, we showed a little of our colours there” He continued “You must
understand that this party was formed by courageous people. Our leaders who
formed this party that has now become the biggest political movement in Ghana
were not cowards. So in 2012 we need to be courageous because all die be die.
All die be die” Since Nana Addo made it clear that the issue is about election
and for that matter politics, I can now reframe my question to make it specific.
Are Akans exposed to political risk or vulnerability? Or are Akans
politically endangered? Or are Akans politically intimidatable? Well, any person
who knows the structure of Ghanaian governance, the population distribution and
how many Akans have occupied and continue to occupy sensitive positions in the
country since independence will only shake his head and scream rubbish!
For something practical, its obvious that when one talks about
sensitive offices in the country inevitably he is referring to at least these
seven offices namely the presidency, the vice president, the speaker, the Chief
Justice, Ministry of Defense, Chief of Defense Staff and the I.G.P., during the
first term of Kufour’s government of which Nana Addo was a key member, only two
of these offices were occupied by none Akans namely the speaker and the vice
presidency. Then in the second term of Pres. Kufour only one of these offices
were occupied by none Akan and that is the office of the vice president. The
most demeaning one was while Nana Addo was the attorney general in the first
term of Kufour nobody from Upper West was competent enough to be even the
regional minister of that region, can any government try this in the Eastern or
Ashanti region?
Now, lets turn to the government of Prof. Atta Mills, even in Mills
government the equation is the same as that of the first and second term of
Kufour, until the recent reshuffle, only one of these offices were occupied by
non-Akan and now two of these offices are occupied by non-Akans namely the
office of the vice president and the attorney general. Note that these offices
are key to the security and the well being of every Ghanaians and if this is the
statistics, does it tell us something?
In addition, it will be strange find out that out of the ten heads of
state and presidents we have had since independence, only three were non-Akans.
And even the last election only one non-Akan contested as a presidential
candidate out of eight but will it surprise you to know that Akans make of only
44% of Ghanaians and therefore if the offices and other things are distributed
evenly, they should be pocketing equivalently 44% and not the current 72%.
However, Nana Addo still maintains that “they have intentions to intimidate us
in 2012 because they believe that we the Akans are soft and cowards”.
Mind you, currently the president, the chief justice, speaker, the
I.G.P, the chief of defense staff and the minister of defense are all Akans. And
with all these positions in the hands of Akans are they “intimidatable”? This
must be a joke or from another perspective, a casting of aspersion on the other
tribes who form in total 56% of the population yet occupy 28% of these sensitive
areas. Are they not the ones who are endangered? Yet Nana believes otherwise,
clearly that is a mark of insincerity. Doesn’t Nana Addo know all these? Surely
Nana Addo is an intelligent man and therefore is aware of all these facts.
Therefore his intention for making such pronouncement could not be any other
thing but vicious; insincere manipulation of the peoples psychic for power.
Although power is what we seek but let’s not forget the truth whenever we are
before the crowd.
Joe Tony (bezanku@yahoo.com)
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