Enough Of The Threats: Ghanaians Won't Be Intimidated

When a political party begins to sense imminent defeat at the polls, it becomes desperate, grabs at straws and makes outlandish statements that ultimately distort its message. This, sadly, is what has become of the once mighty NDC. Locked in an election-year dogfight with its arch rival the NPP, the party appears to be losing its cool.

Its rambunctious General Secretary, Dr.Josiah Aryee is reported to have warned of a doomsday scenario akin to the savagery that was unleashed in Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast if the NPP does attempt to hijack the December elections. Phew!

?People have made references to the genesis of war across Africa and else in Africa....disputed election results tend to trigger conflict,? Aryee told an Accra newspaper, the Heritage.

I am not even going to attempt to gauge what prompted Aryee to utter such a contemptible and gratuitous statement. I only hope that as the head honcho of the NDC, he is not under such duress that he has lost his marbles. One thing, though, stands out clearly from this latest NDC threat....each time its leadership utters such outrageous statements, the party's credibility takes a nosedive.

Perhaps in issuing such a threat, toothless and hollow as it sounds, Aryee underestimated the resolve of Ghanaians not to descend the path of war and the inevitable destruction of life and property that follows, even if the elections were rigged.

In the midst of our political maturation and economic revival, it would be suicidal to shoot our way through problems that are better solved through dialogue and negotiation.

?They the NPP totally see the parallel of what they are doing now and what happened in Liberia or what happened before in Ivory Coast or what happened before in Sierra Leone,? Aryee added.

To draw parallels between alleged NPP shenanigans and what took place in Liberia, the Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone is disingenuous.

It is also downright condescending. What does Aryee think of Ghanaians?.....that we are this trigger-happy band of thugs, prone to violence and averse to peaceful resolution of our problems?

Ghanaians may be poor, but we do love life. Earlier political conditions in the country could very easily have ignited a civil strife. We argued, yelled at each other, and argued some more, but at the end of the day, cool heads prevailed and we are where we are today...the most stable country ... in a region torn asunder by ethnic violence.

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