and the Belligerent NDC Hypocrisy

It is not surprising that Nana’s factual observation of a well acknowledged festering mole- political violence in the fabric of the Ghanaian polity has been cowardly spun by the violent-prone (P)NDC to camouflage their hideous and diabolical agenda – one to perpetuate political, economic and social particularism along ethnic fault lines with the NPP as the ultimate target. It is amazing and ironic that the (P)NDC, a party nurtured in the innocent blood of defenseless Ghanaians, could have the moral courage to stigmatize Nana as a warmonger when all what he asked for was a constructive dialogue to resolve a pervading national canker of violence perpetuated by the NDC against the NPP. Perhaps it is expedient we refresh our memories of the atrocious and heinous historical path of the (P) NDC.

The despicable rhetoric and agenda of the obnoxious AFRC-PNDC-NDC governments remotely informed by Kofi Awoonor’s authored book “Ghana’s Revolution”, point to methodical demotion of Akans to the periphery of mainstream Ghanaian society . In his much disgusted and detested book, Kofi Awoonor myopically vaunted and distastefully theorized that the Rawlings revolution was to sinisterly wipe out Akans and replace them with his Ewe hegemony. He wrote, “The purpose of the Revolution is to take away the political and economic hegemony perpetrated by the Akans, particularly the Ashanti.” Since then, there have been systemic and methodical machinations to implement this diabolical agenda. Nana’s observation simply reiterates and draws our attention to the implementation of Awoonor’s diabolical theorization in contemporary Ghanaian society. No doubt, Akans were targets of extrajudicial killings, their businesses destroyed, properties confiscated, tortured and incarcerated without any guilty findings. The (P)NDC’s diabolical agenda was manifested in the abduction and murder of three High Court Judges and a retired Major at the Bundase Shooting Range on 30th June 1982 as testified by ex-Corporal Matthew Adabuga-ONE of the architects of the December 31, 1981 coup d’état. Innocent people like Kyeremeh Gyan were tortured and extra judicially killed. The hard-won businesses of Sarfo-Adu Pharmaceuticals, KOWUS Motors, Bonsu Brothers Stores, Siaw Tata Brewery, Appiah Menka Soap, Kwabena Darko Poultry Farm, Kufour Transport, Henry Ani “I Shall Return”, B.B. Bismarck Wholesales, and Yaw Manu Mechanical Lloyd were systematically destroyed.
These acts of violence are impudently and shamelessly replicated in our contemporary democratic body polity. Violent incidents in the 2008 presidential elections, Cheriponi, Akwatia, and Atiwa by-elections attest to NDC’s belligerence. The NDC used guns, macho-men, machetes and any available weapon to intimidate, threaten, harass, maim and kill innocent electorates exercising their political rights to vote even in the presence of security personnel who failed to intervene to protect poor civilians. In the 2008 presidential elections, Presidential candidate Assomdweehene Mills promised mayhem the Kenya way if he did not win power. The NDC then mounted inciting propaganda and conveyed their drunken fanatical hoodlums in buses to invade the offices of the National Electoral Commission with guns, machetes, pestles, clubs and truncheons to force the electoral commission to declare the results after the 2008 general elections. To date none of those drug addled hooligans was prosecuted. In the Akwatia bye-election, Baba Jamal, then deputy Eastern Regional Minister, declared “Jihad” on the NPP and incited his drug-addicted hooligans, wielding guns and other weapons, to use violence to help him win the elections, but was rejected by the fearless people of that constituency. Rather than being sanctioned for his lawless behavior, Baba Jamal was rewarded with a ministerial position at the Ministry of Information in president Mills’ recent cabinet reshuffle. In the Atiwa bye-elections, among other atrocious acts, Anita De Souza, the NDC National Women’s Organizer, drove her car through a crowd of people seriously injuring four of them without any accountability.
Few months into his administration, the NDC embarked on nationwide brutalities, harassments and intimidations against NPP supporters. Over Agbogbloshie, NDC functionaries carried out “Operation Flush” to flush out known and vocal NPP members from the market. Four supporters of the NPP were chased all over the market who later sought refuge at the police station. Those poor defenseless fellow Ghanaians were retrieved from the police station and beheaded like chicken in the full glare of the Ghana police who have responsibility to protect all Ghanaians from violence. Up till today no one has been brought to justice. When Nana Ohene Ntow, former General Secretary of the NPP complained about lack of police action on the matter, he was arrested and interrogated like a common criminal by the Police. The blood of these innocent children of Ghana cry for justice but President “Asomdweehene” Mills has been blinded by political particulalrism and turned a deaf ear to their cry because they are supporters of NPP.

Former Ashanti Regional Minister’s “bo n’asom” philosophy instigated NDC hooligans to slap any member of the opposition parties who contradicts an NDC member. Since when did politics in a democracy degenerate into savagery reminiscent of the dark ages without accountability for those who impudently take human life in the pursuit of parochial political agenda? Only in NDC’s democratic Ghana do we honor and celebrate such despicable barbaric acts. If Madam Ladi Ayamba, the NDCs Deputy National Propaganda Secretary had the audacity to impudently state on the Peace FM that the NDC will win the 2012 elections by “hook or crook” then Nana Akoffu Addo, the NPP and peace-loving Ghanaians have genuine reasons to be concerned. Madam Ladi Ayamba’s declarations and the catalogued atrocious intimidating act manifest NDC’s intention to implement them in the 2012 elections. In light of the listed evidence of NDC’s violent history, that its members have the audacity to lecture the NPP about peace is not only synonymous to a sinner preaching to the Pope, it smacks of disrespect to the intelligence of Ghanaians.

This problem needs urgent attention before NDC leads the country down the road to Armageddon. Fellow Ghanaians, we all want peace but we cannot behave like the proverbial Ostrich by burying our heads in the sand and falsely assuming all is fine with the Ghanaian polity when the few catalogued electoral violence and the provocative utterances of the NDC leadership and rank and file point to the combustibility of the Ghanaian political system.

It takes a brave and wise leadership to confront and resolve peacefully sensitive and combustible issues as Nana has done. Nana has once more demonstrated his penchant for peace by igniting public discussion of the canker in our Ghanaian polity. Nana’s unparallel penchant for justice, equality, fairness, peace and stability dates back to his historic leadership in the Alliance for Change and Kume Preko demonstrations that helped Ghanaians to wrestle freedom and democracy from the grips of the murderous dictatorial (P)NDC. A witty Ghanaian political expert appreciating Nana’s contribution stated, “Nana Addo’s personal political history should be able to tell Ghanaians that he does not believe in violence; he does not believe in subverting the rule of law and constitutional provisions that protects all Ghanaians. Rather on the contrary, he has been an individual who over many years has fought for the right of Ghanaians, has fought for the opening of the political space, for freedom of association and fro freedom of speech.”

We are all witnessing the current political impasse in Cote d’ Ivoirie, where the incumbent has refused to hand over power after losing an election by more than 8% or over 400,000 votes. In the 2008 election, Nana Akkufo Addo in the pursuit of peace in Ghana acknowledged the Electoral Commission’s declaration of Prof. Mills the President-elect with just the smallest margin of electoral victory of 0.46% in the history African polity. As the incumbent party, Nana could have challenged the results in the midst of well-documented electoral malpractices, most especially, when he won the first round. However, as a true believer of peace, democracy and will of the people, he rather congratulated the President-elect Mills to ensure peace and tranquility in Ghana.
What Nana and the NPP are demanding is simple- a free and fair elections devoid of intimidations, violence and malpractices. The tag of tribal warmonger is infantile, diversionary and not the panacea to the problem. Standing up against injustices and intimidation as the Egyptian populace did does not connote violence but rather commensurate with peace and justice. It is unfortunate that NPP’s desire for peace has been misconstrued as cowardice. We are not cowards and we will stand up for justice, equal opportunities and against intimidations and acts of coercion to deny us a level playing field in the 2012 elections. The president’s threat of using the security apparatus against any persons pursuing their legitimate rights will not help because a determined people fighting against injustices and inequalities cannot be simply intimidated by the forces of destruction as typified in the Egyptian struggle against Mubarak.
We Ghanaians must be thankful to Nana for engineering this discussion and should seize this historic opportunity to deal with this political canker to avert potential conflict in the 2012 presidential elections. President Mills himself has admitted that “lawlessness is on the increase” and it behooves him to avert its spillage into the 2012 elections. All what we call for is a free, fair and transparent 2012 presidential elelctions. We reiterate our leadership’s call for the resumption of the Inter-Party Advisory Committee to bring a structured dialogue to ensure a level ground for the 2012 election. We call on all peace-loving Ghanaians to join in the demand for a dialogue. Nana has unequivocally stated that “the NPP has always been the party for peace and we will continue to advocate for free, fair, open and transparent elections.”
However, the pursuit of peace should not be misconstrued as cowardice. Nana stated in no uncertain terms the position of the NPP when he rightly stated, “The NPP will no longer sit and watch the NDC have their way. We will not throw the first stone, but if they do, we will rise up and defend ourselves”. We the NPP youth see this as a nonviolent posture but an act of self defense guaranteed by our own Ghanaian tradition and international legal instruments. If President Mills does not make any conscientious efforts to stop his marauding NDC drunken hooligans from attacking and coercing NPP supporters, then we reserve the right to indulge in self-help to defend ourselves. The peaceful Osono is not a coward, it has awakened from its slumber and we will support the call to defend ourselves to the hilt if necessary to protect our legitimate right to free, just and peaceful 2012 elections. As Shakespeare aptly said, “Cowards die many times before their death. The valiant never tastes of death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have seen, it seems to me most strange that men should fear. Knowing that death, a necessary end will come when it will come". ALL DIE BE DIE.