Opinions of Tuesday, 11 December 2012

Columnist: Avorkliyah, Selorm Kordzo-Aheto

Ghana First! Politicians Can Go Hang!!

Dear Fellow Ghanaians,

Within a week of yelling "Hosanna to the King! Hosanna to the King!!" the very Jews who welcomed Jesus marched him off to Calvary chanting "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!!" Many religious heads have offered a glut of reasons for the swift change of mind of the Jews of Jesus' day and why he was crucified. I am sure whether you profess Christianity or not you might have on occasion tried to make sense of this for yourself.

The answer is however simple. In all the dealings of human beings, follow the money! Jesus was "killed" because he was in the way of people who thrived on patronage and their very livelihoods depended on people showing up in the synagogues to buy their version of what God says. Had Jesus been any other raving lunatic making claims about being God-sent and rounding up only a few followers at a time, they would have yawned him off because he posed no threat to their religion business.

Always keep in mind, the very few who know what is at stake get the masses stirred up and push their agenda to secure chow for their already distended bellies at the detriment of society at large. The Bible tells us that there is nothing new under the sun. It's always the same script, just a different cast.

I needed to start off on that note to emphasize one inalienable truth: the heart of man is desperately wicked and it is brimming with all sorts of evil. Unless tampered with God's will, the evil machinations of man have no limit. Before you get lost in whatever cesspool of reasons a human being can give you for supporting any cause of theirs, ask a simple question: what is in it for them?

I have long given up on Ghanaian politics. Don't get me wrong. I cherish our democracy and I believe it is beautiful every Kofi, Abena and Serwaa can call Peace FM in the morning and voice their two pesewa on everything from government graft to geo-politics. It is a privilege we must jealously protect and for that reason only, I grant hesitantly that the NDC and the NPP are necessary evils we must condone.

Too often we are quick to label a person NDC or NPP so that what they have to say will become a secondary issue and the core issue becomes the mindless political pigeonhole we have locked them in. I AM NOT NDC AND NEITHER AM I NPP! You can question my sanity at every whim but my intellect means a lot to me and for its wholesomeness, I refuse to be identified with either side because my reasoned opinion is worth more to me than the nodding heads of party cronies.

The NDC is corrupt. The NPP is corrupt. No grown man will go spending all that money on campaigning nationwide and suffering untold indignities because he is a Father Christmas. They want to get into office for a reason. Don't excuse this point in a hurry. It is the only point that truly matters. Once that has crystallized, the campaign dais bull and manifesto cock stories assume near literal meanings.

The question now is who is more desperate? Who is willing to sacrifice a limb and who is ready to chop off a head? I implore you to keep your thinking cap strapped to your head. We are not going to lose our cool on account of anybody's depraved ambition and/or someone's malevolent scheme to change his economic status.

Think through the following points carefully and advise yourself and your love ones. Neither NDC nor NPP have ever bought me lunch so this is an opinion of a Ghanaian, not a political party buff.

l Akufo-Addo and his legal cohorts drove our dear country to the very brink of a civil upheaval in December 2008.

l If it were not for the intervention of Kufour in 2008, the stage would have been set for anarchy as Akufo-Addo's acolytes did not only claim victory for him but they were asking for Mills to concede to him.

l Even a former National Chairman of the NPP, and a member of the Council of Elders of the New Patriotic Party, the late Mr. B.J Da Rocha said, "The action taken by the party against the EC is neither in the interest of the nation nor the credibility of the NPP." He was referring to the legal maneuvers in 2008.

l Akufo-Addo has since made several claims abroad and at home that he magnanimously conceded defeat in 2008. As this is not a fact, this makes him a liar.

l Akufo-Addo has already made pronouncements suggesting that victory must be attained at all cost in the 2012 polls.

l In a typical elementary school maneuver, the NPP declared the 2012 election in favor of Akufo-Addo to preempt the result the EC would be declaring later.

l As a follow-up to this move, they have refused to accept the result of the EC and are on a rampage crying foul again.

l Ghana has a judicial system that is among Africa's most credible. They should go to court and speak their grammar and tenses.

l The young folks who have time on their hands during the day to wield machetes and go misbehaving like they did in 2008 should know they are idle and available to be used by these politicians because successive governments have failed them.

l Whiles they wrangle on in court, express your views respectfully and treat your fellow citizens the way you want to be treated.

l Ghana first! Politicians can go hang!!

Yours truly,

Selorm Kordzo-Aheto Avorkliyah

Asia Pacific