Opinions of Sunday, 2 February 2020

Columnist: Michael Sumaila Nlasia

Michael Sumaila writes: NDC should take advantage of this to win 2020

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The Akans have a proverb that says that when the smaller ants find the carcass of bigger ants and they do not organize to pull it into their hole to do justice to it, it simply means they are lazy. The saying is analogous to the political atmosphere in Ghana now, in that, the present government led by Nana Akufo-Addo has failed to the stupor to deliver the good governance and the glitzy promises made to the good people of Ghana.

So far, most of the things done by the government is short of acceptance by the people, hence, it has resorted to populism as ways and means of trying to affirm its achievements. Indeed what the government is doing indicates an impoverished vision driven by the ill-constructed neoliberal ideal of “development in freedom” which simply seeks to make a wealthy few among the populace in the country. The end product of development is freedom, so, how can you have freedom before you develop?

The task ahead to win the general elections is not just about the victory of the NDC but to access power through truth to rescue Ghana from the unprecedented level of misgovernance under the NPP. Therefore, all aims are focused on that ultimate goal.

The larger schemes of intimidation and corrupt allegations calculated by government to break the front of the party in order to cow members into silence only points out the fear of the humiliating defeat beckoning them in the general elections, because of the clear misgovernance characterized by massive corruption, unprecedented levels of nepotism, excruciating economic hardships under Nana Akufo-Addo.

The district-level elections held on December 17, 2019, saw the election of Assembly and Unit Committee members simultaneously across the country. It is very clear, although it was not held on partisan lines, but it appears that majority of the contestant with NDC sympathies have found their ways into the assemblies, and it is, on the other hand, making things difficult for the government to find its way, e.g., the election of presiding members, the vote on the appointed MMDCEs, budget for the assemblies and others. This is an advantage the NDC must leverage upon to access power. The results have shown the dynamism of the Ghanaian society. It is like the sea, it rejects all pollutants in order to keep its purity.

E-mail: marcusgarvey.snr@gmail.com
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