There is no such thing as national Security. There is rather only the security of organised Interests. And this analysis can be both complex and simple. To put it simply, in Ghana?s political economy, there are three broad organised interests. According to free market economics their separate expenditure constitute national income.
The first is the organised interest of the majority as citizens (civil society generally and trade unions particularly). The second is the organised interest of the private sector (commerce, industry and Employers Association). The third is the organised interest of the foreign sector (importers and exporters, Multinationals, International NGOs and Foreign Governments).
All three organised interests at all times want to control Ghana?s Government (the Legislature, the Judiciary, the Security Services and the Executive) to promote its organised interest.
Generally in Ghana, the Liberal Free Market National Democratic Congress (NDC) represents the organised interest of the foreign sector with specific reference to foreign capital.
The Conservative Free Market New Patriotic Party (NPP) represents the organised interest of the private sector. But had no choice, but to safeguard the interests of foreign capital they inherited.
Under the (P)NDC the organised interest of the foreign sector had become extremely very powerful and continue to be under NPP. They were able to disregard the law when it came to the market for poultry. In the end the Government had to change the law to suit them. Any attempt to democratise Ghana?s markets has been destroyed.
The organised interest that has lost out in the history of Ghana is the majority of the Ghanaians for whom no party represents their interests today. It used to be the Convention Peoples? Party (CPP) that represented the organised interest of the ordinary man or woman. But the Free Market ensured it remained banned during the early part of the 4th Republic till 2000. This is a far cry from its dominance in the 1st Republic 1960-1966 when it was violently eliminated by the Free Market through the Security Agencies of the Police and Ghana Armed Forces. It has yet to capture this progressive role.
Since the NPP took office the Free Market has worried over whether that party can protect their interests. Their worry was made worse by the preoccupation of the NPP leaders with their flagrant indiscreet private wealth accumulation than safeguarding the legitimacy of the Free Market State. Even the President bought a hotel where anybody and everybody can see it; can you imagine! Some like Edumadze have so much wealth since they took political office that the fact of corruption cannot be concealed. So, they have become worried that Ghanaians are increasingly concluding that this Free Market Society of Ghana cannot create wealth for all. And given the revered position of Ghanaians in Africa and the diaspora, what cannot happen in Africa, if Ghanaians reject the Free Market? This is too frightful for the Free Market to contemplate.
This Free Market displeasure with the NPP is therefore at the heart of the recent security problems in Ghana. At one point the Founder of NDC was openly calling NPP leading politicians thieves. To correct this state of affairs, the Free Market sought to do what it always does best: create a crisis through rapid-fire assaults. First the Free Market sought to eliminate the political leaders of the NPP. The evidence on ?www.ghanaweb.com? shows that they planned to kill both John Agyekum Kufour and Nana Akuffo-Addo on the same day. They also targeted Alan Kyerematen to eliminate him. If this Free Market plan had succeeded, this would have decapitated the NPP political leadership and sent both the NPP and Ghana into a state of deep shock. These are what the Free Market calls creating ?business opportunities?; in Ghana, the business opportunity the assassinations would have provided would have been enormous and profitable for the Free Market. For example, one of the less desirable NPP flagbearers would have had to be chosen with all the fearful possibilities. Do not rule out that mayhem that will follow those suspected of doing the killing and their supporters battling it out. But with the free market there would have followed a second shock, one shock after another.
Following the failed attempts to destroy the NPP political leadership the struggle for supremacy between primarily Foreign and Private Sectors within the Free Market came to a head underpinned by the ethnicity of the key players seen and unseen. It is this struggle which has spilt over into the media both electronic and non-electronic. The way it has spilt over is the reported confrontation between His Excellency John Agyekum Kuffour and the Minister of Security Francis Poku ending with the former sacking the latter while the former himself will be sacked by The 1992 Constitution within a year.
The Free Market has had control of the Government of Ghana and primarily its security services and Ministry of Finance since 1966. And it is not prepared to democratically give it up. Why? This is because the Free Market knows no law beyond its own interests. As we saw in Kenya very recently, it will rig elections if it has to in order to cling on to power to protect its interests. If the country burns, that is all the better; it is the best reason not to hand over power. And if the country will not burn to justify holding onto power, you send the Police to shoot unarmed civilians to deliberately provoke a crisis. To hide that fact, the Free Market will say it is tribal warfare. Ghana, please watch out!
The Free Market is the most deadly enemy of Ghanaians today and is directly responsible for their poverty and misery. If Ghanaians want to assert their right to human life and happiness, the free market is the wrong national instrument to deliver it.
Email: kwami_agbodza@yahoo.co.uk
