Enemies of Democracy

Freedom of speech,expression and opinion are exclusive and unrestricted

prerogative of every nation that seeks to champion the course of democracy

and Ghana is no exception, over the years,the kind of democratic pace Ghana

has set has indeed won global admiration.Our governance system is seen

primarily as an indispensable means of establishing and promoting certain

universally recognized values,such as right to freedom of expression,right

to hear and to be heard, right to have unhampered opinion on issues and

right to freedom of expression of dissent views.

Though framers of our constitution opted multi party system which

guarentees freedom of expression that thrives on expression of divergent

views but on the contrary,the posturing of the NPP in this current

democratic dispensation is indeed quiet excruciating and worrisome.The

overwhelming intolerance of dissent views in a broader perspective speaks

negative about this country and its democracy.

Though extracts from the history of the party in question,speak voluminous

about how their founding fathers fought against expression of divergent

views and the numerous attempt made to assassinate other political

ideologies which in their thought,was a veritable threat to their

political parochial gains but l thought those trivial and outmoded sense

of reasoning had died with their damning past but l was wrong afterall.

With such precedents ,it serves children of history no surprise to learn on

the current chastisement of card bearing members of the party who are in

disagreement with the current leadership on issues bothering the party.

The chasing out of Charles Wireko Brobbey,a founding father of the NPP for

disagreeing with the party on matters relating to the petition,which seeks

to vitiate legitimate votes is a clearer indication justifying the topic

under deliberation.

The current sense of open radicalism and extremism encircling the NPP

coupled with the damning strategy of employing miscreants who thrive on

the use of invective and abusive languages in addressing competent and

intelligent minds,who form the "core pillars" of the party is a direct slap

on the face of multi-party democracy,a veritable tool likely to rob the

tagged crest of democracy the party is purportedly known for,which some of

us never believed per the retrospective analysis done to justify.It is

quiet incomprehensible that some elements worthy of emulation in the NPP

would countenance such an irresponsible conducts coming from both current

leadership and the youth wing of the party,a posturing which inflicts

dishonour on the integrity,the image and the ideological values

representing the party. Internal party democracy is subjected to massive

disruption and the liberty of it's members are being dragged into the

mud-gutters unless they are trying to revive the old days their ancestors

where best brains like Dr.Nkrumah were forced to be expunged from the good

books of the UGCC when it became evident that his intelligence far

outweighed that of the entire composition of the Danquah-Busiah tradition.

The NPP over the years, parades as the apostles of democracy which is a

complete deceit of ordinary intelligence with regards to the previous and

current threat of eviction hanging on dissent minds.

The real identity of the party is gradually coming naked. The prominent

figures who disagree with the party on issues are being chased with dogs of

vandalism and death.The most unfortunate aspect of this trivial

chastisement is that, it does not bother on the substance of the issues

raised by some of these key elements but rather their personalities and

loyalty to the party are trampled with impunity and slander,a racorous

situation that mars internal politics of relations.

Dr.Authur Kennedy in his book titled "chasing the elephant into the

bush",factors which he thought led to the NPP's abysmal performance in the

2008 general elections were unequivocally discussed to guide to the party

to avert similar future occurrence but instead his personality was exposed

to slander,tongue lashing and was subsequently seen as an enemy within.

Out of sheer recalcitrance,Nana Addo was inevitably humiliated by his NDC

counterpart, John Mahama in the 2012 elections,amidst of utter shock, the

NPP were moved by some figured circumstances to appear before the supreme

court to challenge the validity of Mahama's declaration as president,

though it's their constitutional right, under article 64, it bears an

indented mark of desperation and still remains a mission of futility.

Several persons have come under severe vilifications for making public

declarations of their utter dissatisfaction with the ongoing petition at

the supreme court and hence a panic-stricken situation is created which

intends to scare others from expressing similar sentiments on the petition

and on other issues.The thought provoking question that springs to mind is

quiet simple, where is the internal party democracry in the NPP? Dr.

Charles Wireko Brobbey,Kwame Mpianim, Dr.Authur Kennedy and several others

are victims of such vile circumstances.

In my candid opinion, the entire leadership must agree with the school of

thought that suggests that legitimate exchanges of dialogue must proceed

without obstruction or coercion from any quarters.

To protect the rights of members, expression of dissent views,the right to

protest against ill-directives coming from the top brass of the party must

not be frown at any level but rather be tolerated because such are the

impetus needed to build a better Ghana. Good leaders must not riled up

because members disagree with them on matters which bothers on collective

interest.

I think l may not be wrong to harbour the suspicion that until the current

situation of ranking resentment in the party is addressed ,being in

opposition remains the singular option.

From; Ivan Kyei Innocent / 0206262717.

Email: nanakyei81@gmai.com