CJA: - Haven for government detractors?

I have noticed something lately. Some commentators, for want of anything to write, vomit putrid bile at each other’s doorsteps. We are a big family and I forbid such again in this intelligent arena. Great minds should join in calling for decorum!

Ever since the nation veered into the path of democracy, she has continued to harvest the good fruits from this form of government. Freedom of speech, transparency, law and order, promotion of human rights seem to be making headway. The existence of pressure groups is known to be one of the qualifications of a thriving democracy and I have been one of its clarion callers.

Here comes in the CJA (Committee for Joint Action), a pressure group supposedly formed to speak for the voiceless. I have known pressure groups to influence government in order to satisfy rational objectives, as was evident recently in the USA when they campaigned against the war in Iraq. Not so for the CJA. To score cheap popularity, they seem to have clung to acts that go to portray them as government detractors.

Truth be told, the nation is really making economic strides and has one of the most stable economies on the continent. Poverty indexes also show a drastic fall in poverty level. Inflation, a problem ravaging numerous fragile economies, seemed to have been tamed; ranging now between 10% and 13%. Needless to say, it is what has caused the lightening transformation of the economy.

In the latest wrangling, the CJA flying banner of economic ‘hardships’ has threatened to embark on a demonstration even without police certification. But, am afraid, the Public Act Order 491 is so clear that, they need not ask my grandfather, (late) Justice Kwame Afreh, do the interpretation. Once upon a time when commandos shot at demonstrators. We hope we also do not again witness those sponsored counter-protests. I am begging of the CJA to please consider the advice of the Police Commander and spare us any fracas. They should not make a spectacle of themselves by waiting on the Accra Fast Track High Court throw away their suit.

The CJA might have forgotten the words of Oscar Wilde: ‘No object is so beautiful, that under certain conditions, it would not turn ugly’. The veracity of the quote in this scenario is clear. Here is the evidence of such conditions: the group seems to have sold their conscience to opposition parties and thereby remote-controlled as such. The core members are known to make jaundiced comments on anything coming from the stable of the government. This defeats the very premise on which pressure groups are formed. To think they are fighting for the masses would amount to lying through the teeth if these albatross still hang around their necks.

It is good the group campaigned against ROPAA, because I think the implementation of such a law could harm our young democracy. I also condemn in no mean words, the use of ‘minimum force’ on demonstrators.

Love it or hate it, Ghana is 50. The nation has come of age and is far too gone than to tolerate their absurd logic and partial mindset in addressing national issues. It pushes one to tell them stop those squalid attempts at making their prejudices seem ours. They should now advance ideologies that would make critics like me, purge the notion that their group is a haven for political wanderers with wounded egos.

Should the CJA should come clean on their motives for the next demonstration, I would be the first to break lance in their support. Failure to do so would mean they face the inevitable of murmuring under their breath and grumbling to their pillows.

Meanwhile, the ¢100m witch-tree makes some interest. I need to restate forcefully that, for the GHA (Ghana Highway Authority) to have dished out such huge notes to the chiefs for rituals is tantamount to financial loss to the state. Applying the concept of opportunity cost tells me; such monies could have fed about 8000 people on a day’s three-square-meal. Was it not $46000 that sent Mallam Issa to jail? What about Perprah, Abodakpi and the others? Are they the only ones whose cup of sins ran over? Are those beyond censure being allowed to drink the dregs of iniquity? I believe we most often need to place our political sentiments under anesthesia when analyzing issues.

Bernard Afreh Manu, nobunegga@yahoo.com Economics Dept., KNUST.

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