Made In Ghana”Democracy”

From: Stephen A.Quaye, Toronto-Canada

Do not remind me of what actually happened in Ghana on April 30, 2011 because I am already aware of what took place the whole day.

So much interested in Ghana’s democratic governance, I could not stay away from reports of activities being undertaking in the country from time to time therefore it was as usual for me to keep myself informed of what was happening on that day through out the country.

Being aware of the New Patriotic Party,[NPP] parliamentary primaries that was being conducted on that day, I woke up much earlier than I usually do every Saturday morning to monitor the whole exercise which was very successful.

Monitoring the whole exercise on my laptop computer via the internet, I heard every thing that took place as far as the exercise was conducted as the super stations Joy F.M. and Peace F.M. kept on reporting life from polling stations to constituency headquarters down to election headquarters.

Around 11:00a.m here in Canada, but 3:00p.m. Ghana time, the first eventual lost of some few incumbent MPs who went to battle it out with new entrants for their seats come 2012 hit me” boom” like a bomb blast.

“Fellow listeners, the first casualty have being reported of a popular incumbent MP who has eventually lost the primary to a new entrant who is a woman. Confirmed reports from our reporters in Ashanti Region and that of the E.C. has it that Mr. Maxwell Kofi Jumah has lost to Mrs. Patricia Appeagyei” the hosts announced on air as I heard it on my laptop via the internet.

Few minutes after that jaw breaking report of “Kofi Ghana’s” defeat another shocking news came in as the various life reporters were filing their reportage as a matter of getting breaking news offhand before the total announcements were made to the general public.

As the host took a deep breath, he finally announced that another powerful incumbent MP has also fallen to a new entrant in the primary and that was the MP for Koforidua Madam B.B.Boateng whom he described as a powerful contributor at parliament and that it was a big casualty.

Hwew. I made that noise. What happened that contributed to the defeat of these powerful and outspoken members I asked myself. But it was not only these two members who were defeated as late reports indicated that Stephen Balodo Menu as well as Nana Adu Monsra also lost.

There was no way to find any clue to what might have caused these outspoken members their defeat just that the NPP delegates have spoken by choosing who and who they wanted to lead them to win more votes to add up to the flag bearer’s vote to defeat their main contestant the incumbent president come 2012.

Earlier on, the NPP flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akkufo Addo, was heard on various radio stations appealing to the delegates to elect parliamentary candidates who can win more votes for the party so may be this message helped the delegates to assess and elected the candidates based on their ability to satisfy this condition set out by the flag bearer.

Prior to the primary itself, some aspirants used different campaign methods to reach out to their delegates to win votes some of which were excellent and won them the slot whiles others could be described as outmoded and disgusting and eventually caused them their defeat.

In modern day democracy, where the electorates are wild awake of their civic duty of listening to aspirants and doing their own judgment through the ballot box, it is very clear that anybody who uses politics of insults to defeat his contestant will rather be rejected by the electorate and it happened in Kumasi.

Stephen Balodo Menu lost. But his defeat was not as painful to that of Madam B.B.Boateng because Balodo Manu would be serving his 16 years in parliament come 2012 and has contributed his quota to the nation’s democratic governance through parliament.

However, for Madam.B.B.Boateng, whom I understand was very outspoken in parliament on women issues her lost was sad because it was her first term in parliament and would have contributed more on women issues should she have been given another chance.

But hey, what can you do about it? That is the game of politics enh? You can never determine the mindset of the delegates or the electorates when it comes to choosing a presidential flag bearer or parliamentary candidate. They have their own way of assessing their candidates to know whether one is a novice or one is a veteran and who must be given the nod.

The game of politics when played in such a fair manner is healthy as one gets to know his fate earlier and prepare for the battle of the titans therefore the way it was conducted was great.

Democracy has taken roots in Ghana and really what is going on in both in the two main political blocks give indication that the country is matured in democratic dispensation which is good news.

There will be always peace in the country if the people will be allowed to select persons they wan to lead them in whatever position in free style is one of the examples demonstrated by the NPP gurus.

In a nutshell if one can sit afar and monitor such an important event in a free atmosphere then is right to say Ghana is truly giving meaning to the fact that it is a beacon in democracy in Africa.

Well done good people of Ghana.

Well done NPP.

The Author is a freelance writer currently based in Toronto-Canada and can be reached at teemagi2003@yahoo.com.

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