The stomach politician and the discerning voter

By Etse Clement Gagbe

Here we are again, ELECTION! ELECTION! ELECTION! The language of the politician resonating in the mind of the voter every day. Before, there was a wide gulf between the politician and the voter. But as usual as we approach election, He tries to increase his efforts to close the gap as he visits voters around the nook and cranny of the country promising them ‘‘HEAVEN ON EARTH’’.

IF POLITICIANS WERE MAGICIANS, WE WILL HAVE OUR BELOVED COUNTRY, GHANA BECOME LIKE THAT OF THE CAUCASIANS LONG AGO AFTER THE DEATH OF OSAGYEFO DR KWAME NKRUMAH. Interestingly they are not, yet they portray themselves to be one, and go on making promises they can’t fulfil, throwing dust into the eyes of the ordinary voter on the street by satisfying their immediate desire as they give them huge commission as part of their remuneration when they give them temporal employment during election year to help them in increasing their votes potential, something they wouldn’t have done except election year.

It is funny to see the stomach politician present phony promises as he devotes his time and resources travelling around the nook and cranny of the the country giving voters paltry sum of money with the hope to cajole them in order to win their votes in his journey to lay hold on political power.

Oh! If voters can learn to discern, the rapacious and vicious politician will be concerned as he becomes anxious of the debilitating conditions of the ordinary voter and will not present himself as a magician but will be cautious when making promises.

The stomach politician lounges in luxury while the ordinary voter lives in pain and misery day-in and day-out. He has fleet of cars and sleeps in a luxurious home, what I call mansion while the ordinary voter sleeps in a distal attic room yet still fall prey to his antics of campaign promises as he exchanges his power that lies in his thumb during election year taking the so called GIFTS from the stomach politician.

OH! SADISTIC POLITICIAN WHEN WILL YOU BE REALISTIC? OH! VOTER WHEN WILL YOU LEARN TO DISCERN? The politician thinks about his stomach but he remarks during election year, ‘‘I will provide you with social amenities like good drinking water, schools , hospitals etc and improve your living conditions by giving you jobs, security, power and the like. But after election the voter comes to the realization that those astronomical promises were nebulous, whimsical and nonsensical.

The voter vests power in the politician for him to contribute his quota for the greatest good of humanity. But what do we see, he is sidelined until another election when the politician comes to visit his region again to canvass for votes, the only first time the voter sees him face to face after the previous election.

Before the election year, he is confined to one place, that is the city of Accra living in his luxurious home as he joins the gentry ignoring the ordinary voter, but today being an election year, he has the impetus to be ubiquitous just to garner votes in this election. What a recycle that has no new product for humanity! I am fully aware of this cycle of drawback of society and I will not be lulled to come back to vote him into power for another setback because I took aback after your lethargic and cavalier attitude towards alleviating the abject poverty of humanity when you took over the reins of power as said by the discerning voter.

The politician when in power, takes his children to the best of schools, make them sleep in the best of environment, drink potable water, access the best health care delivery, eat the best of meals and above all flies his families outside the country during election year as he anticipates the possibility of electoral violence at the expense of his unfulfilled promises that has led to the increased plights of the ordinary voter.

The stomach politician in power, joins the gentry, so he forgets to provide the elementary needs of the ordinary voter but he also quickly forgets that the cemetery awaits all of us as opined by the discerning voter. One day will be the day of reckoning just as he has used all his life to spew palpable lies and falsehood that have led the ordinary voter’s life in serious jeopardy.

It is about time that the ordinary voter came to the realization that the remedy to his life’s jeopardy is not to believe in the stomach politician who engages him in a comedy show as he trumpets his promises on campaign platform with the sole purpose to inform him about his so called good intensions which is often a mirage, the very language of the stomach politician.

The remedy again is simple; don’t believe the stomach and the political ventriloquists because they are in to entertain you and not to ascertain to you how they intend to fulfil those promises to relieve you of the untold hardship, suffering and pain you have been subjected to over the years.

They are in for your votes just to occupy their place of prominence in life as they garner more accolades like ‘‘HONOURABLE’’to satisfy their own parochial interest as they see you MISERABLE, VULNERABLE AND LAUGHABL in society post election when you swamp their phones with innumerable calls just to get their attention as opined by the discerning voter. This is why you need education, information, instruction and direction in this election to have a complete and proper satisfaction without showing any regrets and remorse whatsoever.

The remedy is to learn to discern and not be carried away or deceived by their gifts intended to give you a short-term satisfaction while you give them a long-term satisfaction as you have over the years voted them into power with the very power that lies within your thumb, exchanging it for something from the politician that is fickle and ephemeral.

The stomach politician has become loquacious and embarks on escapes of political promises presenting mendacious promises and achievements. OH! I WISH HE CAN WALK THE TALK, HE WOULD HAVE EASILY CHALKED SUCCESS. Nothing miraculous can come out of the garrulous politician if he is not ready to walk the talk. In fact he can’t chalk success as remarked by the discerning voter.

Nothing makes me get sad and stupefied than when I see the aged especially sexagenarians, septuagenarians, octogenarians and more importantly nonagenarians fawn over politicians, ingratiating towards them during election year just to find favour, knowing perfectly that they will later be seen as aliens when those politicians later find themselves in power with their unpopular mantra, ‘‘WE ARE POLITICIANS AND NOT MAGICIANS’’ or better still ‘‘WE ARE POLITICIANS AND NOT EGALITARIANS!’ If sexagenarians, septuagenarians, octogenarians, nonagenarians and political fanatics can come to the realization that those stomach politicians indeed are not magicians or better still egalitarians, they would use their thumb wisely for them to learn their lessons to stop being epicureans when they are in power but become humanitarians, and will no more be influenced by consanguinity but employ the tool of equality and equity as the basis in creating equal opportunity for the greatest good of humanity as opined by the discerning voter.

Today the magnitude of the viscicitudes of the destitute is largely because multitude of voters are not discerning yet are complaining about the poor living conditions of humanity which doesn't reflect in their voting pattern.

It is about time you said no to the ‘‘hocus-pocus’’ style of campaign promises made by the stomach and avaricious politician. If we will always ride on the euphoria of a culture that allows us to throw away our values, tenets, principles and beliefs just to sell our consciences with meagre gifts from politicians, then we will continue to stagger in poverty since we are not ready to learn to discern their promises to make them concern.

In the end they will continue to garner more accolades to flaunt their so called achievements as they satisfy their own parochial interest at the expense of the poor living conditions of humanity. Oh! Voter discern so that the stomach politician doesn’t have his way this time around to take advantage of your thumb, as he crams his home with riches and wealth while he scams you with his whimsical and nebulous promises. Remember your thumb is where the very plumb of your power emanates. Use it wisely. Written by

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