Vote for the Issues Stupid!

The case against skirt and blouse voting in the current Ghanaian democratic system.

Merry Christmas my fine and fellow Ghanaians. I respectfully make my case against the issue of blind voting. We have a very big opportunity to define our destinies. One might ask how this election is different from any other. Yes it is. The world has advanced from where we were four years ago. This is a year where despite all odds, nay sayers and impossibilities the leading nation in the world spearheading democracy did something unbelievable. Yes we can. This phrase might be overused and sounds corny but yes we can.

We find ourselves in a media environment dominated by loud, nasty ethnocentric ideologues that cares more about belittling and demonizing the opposition rather than selling ideas and promoting civility. A big chunk of the Ghanaian electorate is ill informed. As the saying goes, for luck of knowledge my people perish. We are perishing. The nonsensical notion of NPP/NDC World Bank of voters needs to halt. I commend my central region fellows for having the audacity to vote against ethnic lines. This departure from the everyday norm was a great inroad in the advancement of this democratic process in Ghana. Dawn has at least brought the realization that; an opposition party has a good chance of whisking power from the incumbent government. For eight years an incumbent government embarked on a public relation endeavor convincing Ghanaians how murderous, destructive and corrupt the NDC were. All this at the expense of the taxpayer’s time. This was a toxic catechism of the NPP administration. Trust me, I’m skeptical the NDC might pay back in kind but come on folks. While these politicians deserve the blame for the animosity, the problem goes beyond that to the larger Ghanaian culture. Skirt and blouse voting. Sounds familiar huh? We have allowed ourselves to be taken for a ride. Unfulfilled promises are the norm of the day. We need to hold these folks accountable for the job to which we entrust them. Our leaders should be working for us not us for them. They come to power with the lies of being already rich and fatten their greedy pockets whilst steering our nation into bigger ditches. I’m pleading to all Ghanaians, PLEAAAAAAAAAASE, vote on the issues. You have a choice. A comparison and contrast situation here. 1992-2000 NDC years and a 2000-2008 NPP years.

Lets weigh their achievements and shortcomings and make a choice with our brains. I commend the NPP a lot for the initiative of bringing universal health care at the door steps of Ghanaians. Over eight years, we deserved more than that. We can definitely achieve higher things. Its within the bounds of our dreams and abilities. We saw the ambitious projects embarked by the former government. Regional hospitals, roads, electric power sources among others to most remote villages. If this current government can boast of renovating stadiums and sweeping up the streets of poor vendors and hawkers, it’s a shame. It’s like fixing up a typewriter when we can be working on wireless internet. These folks for the past eight years put a band-aid on a never-healing wound. Ghanaians are bleeding. From unemployment to poor education. For Christ’s sake kids are failing the B.E.C.E. the most basic on ladder of our exam system at records level. We should be ashamed of such a development. Talking of school feeding program. Create jobs for parents and they will feed their kids. What we need is to empower the teachers to educate these kids. I’m no prophet of doom but if we buy into lies and don’t demand change, we’re going to fail as a society. Arguments my fellow Ghanaians living abroad claim is how Ghana looks much more beautiful. So what? How does a beautiful Kumasi or Accra translate into food or money in the pocket of the ordinary folks. We got to set our priorities straight. A favor, please let go of the Akan-NPP and Volta/North-NDC affair. It’s disastrous. Ghanafo, our one way voting pattern is not healthy and is boring. We need an emancipation proclamation. We need to break of this strong hold. We can’t afford to act like idiots always voting one way irrespective of the issues at stake.

We have a choice between Nana Akuffo Addo and Evans John Mills. J.J. Rawlings I believe is not on the ballot. I don’t care how any of us feel about Rawlings but its pathetic and insulting to assume he will make decisions for Mills. This guilt by association propaganda should be strongly rejected. In that same light, the nastiness of accusing Nana Akuufo Addo of peddling drugs is sleazy and ridiculous. We’ve had a chance to witness both men’s work and hope we make a well-informed decisions. As an attorney general and foreign minister we saw Akuffo Addo’s capabilities. My dear small sister explained why it’s suicidal to vote for the murderous NDC. See the brainwashing? That is how serious and grave the situation is. Why are we allowing anyone to throw fairy dust into our eyes? Those of us with some education on the issues have violated our responsibilities by not looking out for the rest with limited knowledge on the issues. I know practicing democracy is a painful and a long experience. Many of us get tired and demoralized but I do believe it’s worth every drop of sweat if we contribute wisely. Folks where are the 100000 jobs within the first 100 days? The need to make ends meet and keep up with the Jones’ of our society is eventually driving able bodies to resort to vices. We need to embark on building our intellectual infrastructure and some real ambitious projects. We are crumbling as a people. Our leaders have systematically maintained and segregated the “unconnected” by squandering any dreams they might think of having. Unlike the American dream, where one can rise from total obscurity to being something, we have the Ghanaian nightmare. Simple, to make it you should be connected otherwise keep dreaming.

As Aristotle implies, individuals are to a large extent defined by the cities they live in and that man can be fully human only by participating in the cities they live in. Ghanaians lets be humans. Let’s participate in our country. Let us vote with our brains not the languages we speak.

Thank you. E.K. Oduro (university @ Albany, NY)