Opinions of Sunday, 14 April 2013

Columnist: Azindow, Alhassan Hadi

The political ism.

FROM; Alhassan Hadi Azindow

The cataclysmic political quagmire has rigmarole my corpse into a frightening catacomb. My situation is so bad that I had to peruse the Oxford dictionary in other to come up with a precise, concise and succinct description of my sorrowful plight. The diction used here only reinforces my confused and deranged state of mind. Giving this pathetic situation, I indulge anybody reading this to give me the necessary attention I deserve.

Happenings within the political atmosphere sends a lot of shivers into my little spine. First was the tension parked cum character assassination 2012 general elections. As if that was not enough the credibility and legitimacy of our president has been questioned and this has led us into a serious judicial tussle. Business tycoons and investors are waiting with baited breath on the outcome of the court rulings before they proceed to invest in our country. Meanwhile the prices of goods are astronomically on the increase with no end in sight. My poor parents at home are tightening their belts because of the economic measures put in place whilst these politicians are losing theirs to gulp down our national resources.
Our once cherished national outlook has been torn apart by partisan politics. Although there are no statistics to prove that Ghanaians are less patriotic now than before but the evidence of our senses should be enough to persuade us. Soccer, which was once the thread that held us together is on the verge of been torn apart by partisan politics. A case in point was the recently ended CAN 2013 where we had a section of Ghanaians rejoicing on the painful exit of the Black Stars. The situation is so bad that the friends you make on social media sites defines your political outlook. I feel so afraid of our current situation.
It is often said that the best way to protect our future is to nourish our present. It does not seem to me that our current condition is been nourished for our future, giving the fact that we are ready to dole out ‘huhudious’ sum of our money’s into paying non-existent, dodgy and incredible judgement debts. The hard earned tax payer’s money is misappropriated and divided into private pockets. Corruption and vile propaganda has become the order of the day. When I sit and think of the George Washington’s, John Adams, Nelson Mandela’s, Mahatma Gandhi’s and to some extent our own Kwame Nkrumah I get the feeling that we can change our plight by building strong leadership. The irony here is that our current crop of leadership have built for themselves a very strong fence for their families and cronies. We have leaders who are failing to think or better still thinking to fail. There is a serious leadership paralysis in this country. A scholar once said that the trouble with Africa is not the backwardness of its people but the backwardness of its leadership. Until there exist a revitalised leadership who have the people at heart and are willing to serve we shall continue to be where we are.
As I sit to write this piece I had to endure the intermittent power outages and the resultant ‘heat’ that follows it. In contemporary times when countries think of how to build nuclear plants and big space rockets we are still in the Stone Age where basic necessities like water and electricity are still a hell of a problem. I long for the day when the woman in my village can afford to drink quality water and enjoy the benefits that comes with electricity. I long for the day when the poor boy in Nantong can compete with the rich boy in Tema. And I long for the day when the masses shall rise and demand accountability of their leadership.
My basic knowledge in political science tells me that the purpose of government should always supersede the mandate of government. ‘Governments are instituted among men , deriving their just powers from the consent of the Governed, that whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends , it is the Right of the people to alter or abolish it…’ The purpose of government which is to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is at a cross road here in Ghana. The current strike action by members of the GMA is threating the survival of Ghanaians. More worrying is the unwavering stand the government and the GMA have each taken. Since the consequences of this strike action is irreversible, I am therefore pleading with government to soften its stand and reconsider the decision of the Doctors.
May the good God in Heaven cure this political quagmire we are currently undergoing. May He not strengthen any political subterfuge in this country. THANK YOU.