Power sharing in Ghana 2013: a reality or a farce?

By Austin Brako-Powers (fmr NUGS Press & Information Secretary)

In the years 2008, and 2009 when the words “power sharing” began to take a toll on the politics of Africa, many of the elite class in the continent treated this piece as mere extremism and about the fact that the propagators are nothing but “doom wishers”.

Is Power sharing new to the Western World?

Meanwhile, many Western Countries have had to live with cases of coalition formation which is modernly called “power sharing”. Of most recent is the British coalition government led by Mr. David Cameroun – a very young leader of the Conservative party in Britain. Little did anyone come close at predicting that we will have cases of “power sharing” in the African soil. The current situations persisting in Zimbabwe and Kenya are visible cases of power sharing in the continent largely necessitated by arrogance and inhumanity on the part of our “commando” national leaders of the continent.

Does the continent still have cases of “Commando” leaders?

“Commando” African leaders are those pre-independence leaders who believe it is their birthright to protect the continent from the “creeping insect” called “Western democracy” from invading our pseudo-peaceful continent. These strong men as they are sometimes called have faded out of Ghanaian politics by the tides of democratic waves engineered by the duo; student movements and the labor union.

Flt Lieut. Rawlings was the last of his kind standing and surviving thus far in this Ghanaian era of democracy. In Zimbabwe, we have Mr. Robert Mugabe; in Nigeria we have Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo who has embraced democracy however the pretense.

So it is clear that the continent being one of the last “apostles of democracy” has proven it worth with the recent wave of elections taking place in the entire continent. It is to disprove some section of the Western public who faintly believe Africans too can improvise and live under a democratic regime that we are witnessing democracy and democratic institutions scurrying to take their roots in the continent.

Is Ghana ready for a Power Sharing deal in 2013?

So can Ghana witness power sharing in 2013? Will the individual flagbearers most especially the leaders of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) – Mr. Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo and Mr. John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress accept defeat at the end of the Friday, 7 December, 2012 polls?

I believe it will be a difficult and sometimes tedious journey for both Nana Addo and John Mahama to accept defeat taking cognizance of the numerous beneficiaries out there and the peculiarity of their individual and distinct situations.

How will Mr. Nana Addo take a defeat from Mr. John Dramani?

For the NPP’s, Nana Addo losing this election means that, he will have to go on a very “painful” retirement for Mr. Alan Kyeramanteng who is now on an assignment at the African Union to lead the party in 2016 should he win the nod at the party’s primaries probably in 2013. This has become possible because Mr. Nana Addo is “ageing” and he will be close to seventy during the next General Election in 2016.

This will also mean that, his ambition to become the first gentleman of the land that saw him leading some positive actions like the “kume Preko” demonstration and the 1995 opposition against the Value Added Tax (VAT) of the Rawlings’ regime and taking some key ministerial positions like the Foreign Minister as well as the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General under Mr. Kuffuor regime have failed to endear him to Ghanaians. These among others explain his frustration inducing him to make “wild” comments like the infamous “all-die-be-die” charging party faithfuls to meet “violence with violence” especially when it comes from sympathizers of the ruling National Democratic Congress.

Will Mr. John Mahama accept defeat at the polls in the hand of the NPP?

On the part of Mr. John Mahama, by happenstance necessitated by the untimely demised of the then President Prof. John Evans Attah-Mills he became President due to his position as the second gentleman of the land (Vice President). Like many countries, Ghana’s constitution stipulates that, in the event of the passing away of the President, the Vice President shall be sworn-in as the President of the country. Looking at how fate has played his game of chess for him, John Mahama who is the incumbent President is left with no option but to win this election according to some of his party faithfuls to “appease the spirit” of their demised leader and President of Ghana.

Also, the people of the Northern part of the country comprising Upper West; Upper East and the Northern Region are determined not to allow this “cup” of leadership to pass them over since it has been ages that they had one of their own leading the nation after the 1982 coup d’état led by Flt. Lieut. Rawlings that overthrown their own Dr. Hilla Liman of the Peoples National Convention (PNC). For Mr. John Dramani, losing this battle would means postponing his presidency to a later date.

Is it constitutional for the NDC of Ghana to be given a second term of office?

Contrarily to the arrogant believe of some party faithfuls of the NDC, no party is entitled to a second term. This piece of “scum” coming from party functionaries of the NDC including Mr. John Mahama is not written in the constitution neither is it written on the hearts of Ghanaians. When you deliver to the satisfaction of Ghanaians, they will reward you with a second term and this is what they have misconstrue to mean that every party is “expected” to be given a second term. The painful truth is that, this is the first time Mr. John Mahama’s image would be on the ballot paper for this high office and we must respect that. Mr. Rawlings in 1996 was rewarded with a second and so was Mr. Kuffuor in the year 2004. However, the rewarding of second terms to both Mr. Rawlings and Mr. Kuffuor does not in any way legitimize or “constitutionize” it as some faithfuls would want the whole world to know.

Conclusion: Peace and not War is what counts.

In the end, the people of Ghana need peace and bread and not war; they need a government that will fix their constant nightmares; poverty; unemployment; corruption by politicians; ineffective educational system; broken health system; frivolous judgment debts; and housing deficits in the country. Whether Mr. Nana Addo of NPP; Mr. John Mahama of NDC; Dr. Abu Sakara of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP); or Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum of the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP), what counts is the fixing of the above fears of Ghanaians.

So I throw the million questions to you;

Looking at the above analysis, is power sharing imminent in Ghana after the December polls?