December 2008 –A Real Watershed in Ghanaian Politics

By Kwesi Atta-Krufi Hayford

The December 2008 general election was one of the most talked about events in Ghana, if not the most, in her 50 year history and Ghanaians everywhere believed it was going to be the watershed to true democracy for our nation. As Ghanaians we were confronted with a clear choice whether to move forward with the New Patriotic Party who promised to deepen democracy and modernize our society or go back to and with the National Democratic Congress who promised change and a “better Ghana.” There were clear differences in the respective parties’ records in government. There were differences in their respective past performances; there were differences in their respective visions for the future and there were differences in the presidential candidates of the parties. The nation spoke on December 28th and the choice was for change and a “better Ghana” It is turning out to be a watershed indeed – the choice between state-sponsored terrorism over freedom

It is becoming increasingly worrying that in almost daily basis we read about or hear another state-sponsored or political party influenced group threatening individual human rights or threatening national cohesion in Ghana. We have read about and discussed the actions of the Ga-Dangme Youth and the office of former President Kufuor, and the responses from the Western Patriots and the Asante United Front. We have now been confronted by another group calling themselves The Asogli Afede Warriors and who say they represent the Asogli Youth, and who sing war songs and beat war drums to prove their political point The formation of this private army to defend the cause of Togbui Afede came in the wake of a comment said to have been made by Mr. Kenwuud Nuworsu in response to the Togbui’s allegation that the NPP did not do much for the Volta Region. The group have imposed a fatwa on Kenwuud and banned him from Ho. The government appears to be unworried about the emergence of this private army and ethnic groupings emerging as pressure groups. In fact the last time the Ga-Dangme group came out to demand their rights as Ga people, government officials came out in support of their action. The government has so far not commented on either the Western Patriots or the Asante United Front, but we do know for example that the President had to cancel his trip to Cape Three Points in the Western Region for security reasons. Last week the NPP Parliamentary Caucus described President Atta Mills as presiding over a country in which state-sponsored gangsterism, criminality, lawlessness and politically motivated ethnocentrism is on the rise; and where “every member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has a licence to kill”. At the moment it seems fashionable to form an ethnocentric group to force our beliefs through. It is alright to threaten a person who we disagree with on political and social grounds. It is alright to use state agencies to threaten individual liberties and deny people the right to their property.

We now know for a fact that 52 serving officers of the security services, and their families, have been served a notice to immediately vacate their official places of residence or risk being forcefully thrown out by the Atta Mills government, by May 20 this year. The unexplained ejection notice was fired from government just after the said official residence was invaded by three fully-armed men who claimed they were from the Seat of Government and that they had been granted permission to take possession of the place. The development reportedly generated brisk fisticuffs, with warning shots being fired but no casualty occurred and the invaders left after giving a warning that they would be back.

The government also seems to be unconcerned or is surreptitiously encouraging a wanton human rights abuse against the Former President JA Kufuor. At the moment all his personal security has been stripped by the government and his vehicles, as part of his retirement package under the Constitution of Ghana have been forcefully taken away by the State Security. The government’s party has also put together a partisan ethnic pressure group to put pressure on the Ex-President to hand over his office because the premises is situate on a land in Accra, the capital of Ghana but the Ex-President is not a native of Accra. Just recently a group of men from the press and the national Disaster Management Organisation tried to force their way into the Ex-President’s private home under the guise of inspecting a broken perimeter wall enclosing the residence. This invasion of privacy was justified by government officials in the media and on other public platforms suggesting that the government was in agreement of the action. This culture of xenophobia and human rights abuses against the former President and his family with the tacit approval of the government of President JEA Mills. We can understand the campaign of hatred which is being meted out against the former President from his political opponents, now in government, but we cannot accept the human rights abuses being meted out to him.

Another act of lawlessness going on with the open approval of the government led by the President is the systematic attempt to shut down opposition and destroy the opposition party by attacking prominent members of the opposition parties. We have witnessed unlawful seizure of opposition members’ private property across the country. Nana Akufo-Addo has had his vehicle seized by State Security on two occasions. In the first instance, the President came out to apologise. Not long after that another vehicle of his was forcefully taken from a garage and even though all evidence points to the fact that the car is his private one, the government has refused to intervene on his behalf. Nana Akufo-Addo’s running mate Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has also had a similar car-seizure encounter with the ever terrorizing State Security.

And what happened to Rule of Law in Ghana? You expect that President Mills as a lawyer will be a moderating factor on the NDC’s love of lawlessness and their over reliance of rule by law as against the doctrine of rule of law. Instead he has become a champion of it. Just last week he was on record in London to have said to the BBC that his government is getting ready to prosecute former officials who served under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration. The NDC have never understood the presumption of innocence under rule of law. How can the “learned Professor” start using words like “prosecute” when no one has been charged under the law? I am glad he only taught Commercial Law as a law lecturer and did not teach Criminal Law, Constitutional Law or Jurisprudence.

As Ghanaians we have worked hard and sacrificed a great deal to take up the cause of freedom and of rights and to champion democracy and good governance. We do not want this opportunity to slip away under the present administration. We are saying this because recent development under this administration suggests to us that there are security lapses which might suggest the country is at risk. As the Commander-in-Chief , the President has allowed Former President JJ Rawlings a maker of two coup d’états unfettered access to the Armed Forces security areas and allegedly taken some weapons into some secret locations. We sense a repetition of his action in 1980 when he handed over to a civilian government only to prepare to take over power forcefully again. He has openly criticized the government of President Atta Mills as being slow, sluggish and has poverty of ideas. He has accused the government of allowing usurpers and people from rat holes into his government. He has given the government a three month ultimatum to act to arrest and try all Ministers of the previous administration because he hates them. He has also openly said at a recent gathering in Kumasi, that he intends to change the nature of democracy as bequeath to us by the colonialists. We consider these comments and actions as dangerous to democracy, the peace and security of Ghanaians and their government. The President incidentally seems incapable to take decisive actions to assure the nation of its political stability. This is worrying. We do not want another Nero on our hands who continued to play on his fiddle while his country burned.

There is vacuum of true leadership. There is a situation vacant in Ghana for a true and strong leader. There has never been the need for a call for true national service. The NDC is proving that they have come to serve the cause of their political party and not Ghana. The change they promise is just for the members of their party and not Ghana. They have come to implement a politics of envy and retribution. It is pay back time against law abiding Ghanaians. We need a person who has a strong desire to serve Ghana with a clear conscience, pure motives and solid character. A person who will offer a leadership of competence, courage, compassion and commitment. A person who believes that from Pusiga to Axim, from Hamile to Keta we all by fate are Ghanaians first. A person with a firm belief that as Ghanaians we have to emphasize the things that bring us together. A person who believes in Ghana and asks all Ghanaians to also to believe in Ghana.

Who fits this bill? I ask all Ghanaians.

God Bless our Homeland Ghana

Kwesi Atta-Krufi Hayford