Leopard in a political suit

Black and white. That was what he wore for the rally. Details—white shirt, black suit and tie.

Introducing Abrantie the Leopard. As noble as his name sounds, he stands on the stage canvassing for votes. His manifesto in hand with outstretched arms (not forgetting his trophy wife who literally stands by him the whole time).

Unfortunately, feminism was not much of a popular concept then so patriarchy was the order of the day. Well, his wife's name is Obaa Yaa. She is also a member of the leopard family.

Kyei is the Cheetah. Just like Abrantie, he is running for president. Despite the well-known swiftness of a Cheetah, no one knows how Abrantie was able to beat Kyei to it. Some Kyei-fanatics were obviously disappointed when Yaw the Squirrel announced the results.

Being a lover of peace, Kyei conceded defeat and officially gave an acceptance speech that acknowledged Abrantie's position. Now, Mr President gets to elect members of his cabinet and makes Nii, the parrot, the leader of his cabinet as well as his special advisor. They say everybody has skeletons but, when those skeletons begin to walk out of their closets, there is no stopping them.

Let's just say the parrot lived up to its known traits that not even the housefly could escape his daily reports to the president.

Soon, the country had to elect another president because Abrantie's term of office was over. All the previous candidates that stood during the previous election stood again. Abrantie won again marginally. However, Kyei decided to challenge his win in court. The court ruled that there should be a re-run of the presidential election.

Abrantie was advised by Kwasi, the Eagle (who was the acting United Nations Secretary General) to allow democracy to take its course for peace to prevail. Abrantie agreed to do so.

It is said that a leopard cannot change its spots. So the election was rigged and Abrantie won marginally once again. There was every proof that it was rigged but he refused to step down.

When he was advised to engage in power sharing, he blatantly refused and when Kyei decided to take what he felt belonged to him, he sent some serial killers to wipe his family off the face of the earth. Enraged, Kyei decided to go after Abrantie's only daughter, leaving the President and the First Lady childless. This war went on for long.

Nii the parrot was actively doing his job and he did not stop feeding the president with gossip, alongside evil ideas on how to deal with Kyei. Well, Kyei was also ready to risk anything in the battle for the Presidency because he had already lost everything. So Nii advised the President to send an arsonist to Kyei's house. The plan was to smoke him out like a rat and then let the fire deal with him. "That way it would look like an accident," Nii said.

Abrantie was sent on tour in a foreign land to make it look like he had no idea about what was going on. His wife did not want to go but faked sickness saying she would go within the next hour. Nii was to stay until they were sure that Kyei was dead.

There is one thing they forgot about fire - a good servant but a bad master. So whoever set the fire did not seem to hold the reins because the fire became violent and began to cross over its boundaries till it had burnt every single thing in its path. Many people who caught a hint of the fire run and some got burnt before they could even lift a foot. Nii and his accomplices were also caught in the fire.

When Abrantie returned, he could not handle the shock of seeing his wife's face burnt beyond recognition. He saw it in the news but could not believe it so he came down to verify. There was nothing he could do. All this while, he had been so drunk with power that he did not even realise that he had been left alone to rule himself in a jungle.

"Ghanaians are peaceful": that is the popular opinion of people. Though this is true, I would like to state that peace is not inborn. It is learnt and we have to make a conscious effort to maintain that peace before, during and after this upcoming election.

Though this is depicted in the animal kingdom, it is not far from us if we do not make a conscious effort to vote for peace. Animals act on instinct only and live in a jungle—that is what distinguishes us from them. But if we can look each other in the eye to hurt or kill one another, then it would be like living in a jungle, not a democracy.

So in this day of civilisation, I implore our human conscience to prevent and suppress any act of violence before it becomes a full-blown war. It is not worth shoving a knife down someone's throat or putting a bullet in someone's head or bathing a person with acid or setting a place ablaze over pieces of papers called ballot sheets.

Yes, pieces of papers they would forever be till we all decide to make them more valuable than human life - which would not be a wise thing to do. Finally, leaders who get too drunk with power lose it in the end because like they say, “power is like an egg, when held loosely, it slips away but when held too tightly it crushes.”

Let us learn to handle it right!

Writer's e-mail: naabd61@yahoo.com