Tricks of the political elite

The revelations that emerged from the confrontation between Ato Ahwoi and Herbert Mensah on the airwaves of FM stations betray the character and methods of Ghana's political elite. The undemocratic methods of king makers is a major destabilizing factor in all the Political Parties.

Their ability to destabilize their Parties in their quest for control is predicable and could happen in any Party because the current Political Parties are not under the effective control of its ordinary members.

In the volume 1 number 4 (Wednesday, January 27 edition) under the banner NDC Unity: Delegate Impose Unity on NDC factions” The Talk in its front page comment stated that: 'what had taken place during the NDC congress in Tamale was just a semblance of unity” and “the seeming calm is bound to be tested because the interests of the opposing groups still persist”.

We stated further that “How they [opposing groups] pursue their interests after the congress, will determine whether the perception of unity endures.” prior to the congress, the various interest groups in the NDC were struggling against each other in the open.

The fact is that the elite in Ghana have no respect for democratic practices and methods. Their preferred method is the use falsehood, treachery, bribery, character assassination, fabrication, corruption and all sorts of underhand dealings to manufacture a perception of popular support. This modus operandi creates the need for serial callers, spin doctors, partisan media, etc. as convenient tools for deceiving the public and a replacement of the Parties’ rank and file.

It is only a government that is unsure of the support of its cadres that panics in the face of a leadership challenge from other interest groups within the party. It must be noted that not too long ago, the Mills government's struggle was with its own foot soldiers, as revealed by the criticism launched by Vice President, John Mahama on foot soldiers from the platform of a member of opposition NPP.

The sense of desperation exhibited by the Mills regime and its propaganda machinery in the face of a suspected internal threat by the Rawlings' leaves much to be desired. It betrays a panicky leadership that may show weakness when western countries exert imperial power to back their interests in cases such as Vodafone, Kosmos, etc.

Public institutions must build strong structures to respond adequately to potential issues that may arise in the course of time. This cannot be achieved in organizations such as the political parties in which few people, due to their wealth, act as self appointed wise men who plot and scheme to manufacture consent to their views and interests.

If the NDC was internally democratic, it would have put in place a body mandated to deal with such issues, and this body would have discussed and decided the way forward on issues, such as a possible health problem of its flag bearer and its implications for the Party.

This would have prevented other interest groups from taking undue advantage of the situation to feather their own nests.

The lack of control of political parties by their members creates the situation where the elite are not accountable to anyone but themselves. Those able to hijack the Party hope to use their positions to gain control of the country's resources in case their Parties win power.

The Talk wishes to advise members of the Political Parties to fight for effective democratic control of their Parties if they are to prevent intra-elite struggles for control with their associated consequence of destabilizing the Party from within.

Source: The Talk (Accra,Ghana)