A Talensi Lesson: Another politics is possible
Sometimes, it appears that there are two Ghana nations inhabiting the same territory. One is the Ghana seen as a peaceful haven where everyone believes in God, people are courteous, taxi drivers dress and behave well, traffic never jams, and politicians truly serve the nation which is a beacon of democracy in Africa. That is the Ghana of our dreams.
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In the real Ghana, our democracy is as flawed as you can get elsewhere; politics is a zero sum game in which the making of overnight fortunes is a prime motivation for seeking political power.
Life in the real Ghana is a lottery of birth and circumstances; the numbers stack up against the poor so every opportunity to make a quick buck is grabbed with all three hands.
None comes sweeter than collecting monies from politician when the season comes around. In that sense, a by-election is like a mini cocoa season; it is sweet, short, sharp and can lead to reckless spending without guilt by all sides.
One day, we may not be so lucky.
The Fourth Republic has provided Ghana with an opportunity to build a democratic future; the Constitution, although flawed, has provided for institutional responsibilities to shepherd the nascent democracy.
We have a fully functioning Parliament, Supreme Court and executive that must account to the people, etc. What the constitution did not address is the ATTITUDE of the people as they relate to one another in the democratic process.
There are many types of democracy; we have chosen to practice what is normally referred to as a “liberal democratic” model. In this kind of democracy, we should all be able to turn up and vote on Election Day without a single gun, except those in the hands of legal authorities, in sight.
In this model, there should be no militia operating openly, or even in the shadows on Election Day or during the election process. There should be no gangs, armed or unarmed roaming the streets on Election Day.
We have lived a lie that we have a perfect democracy; and we probably believe this lie. We may be better than the Africa average but we can do much better. We approach every election with fear in our hearts.
In truth, those who can afford to escape do so; it has been observed that the number of wealthy people who travel abroad for “medical checkup” tends to increase dramatically around election time.
The rest of us simply wish the whole thing would pass quickly so that we go back to live our lives. In the beacon of democracy, elections should be a festival to celebrate our values. We would look forward to elections instead of fearing for our lives.
If you have noticed, the easiest way to get your name in a newspaper during the election period is to “call for Peace”; chiefs, queens, religious leaders, NGOs, business leaders and all sorts of men and women “Call for peace”. That is the clue that fear stalks the land just because we are exercising the right to choose our representatives.
In 2008, the youths of the two rival parties, the NDC and NPP stood facing each other in a standoff near the Electoral Commission. It took the divine intervention of the delayed run-off at Tain to diffuse the tension. No one knows what would have happened if the Electoral Commission had declared the election in that heated moment.
We may not always be so lucky
Last Tuesday was another wake-up call. Social media sent frightening accounts, including pictures and videos of people wielding guns and machetes going round the constituency creating havoc.
There were reports of people being rushed to hospitals with stab and gunshot wounds; some reports say the police stood by as these events unfolded.
To hold an election in the atmosphere that charactarised the Talensi by-election is to hold democracy hostage to the vilest fortunes. Gunshots and votes should never mix and when the mixture occurs it means the election risks being seen as unwholesome.
Former President Rawlings has called for the arrest and prosecution of those who committed violence at Tongo and other areas in the Talensi Constituency. It would be great if that would happen, but that kind of situation happens in the Ghana of our dreams; in the real Ghana, pinch me when anybody gets punished for this recent show of violence.
But arrests and prosecution may not be the answer to the question of election violence. To put it another way, we have to ask ourselves whether the violence is an unavoidable response to the TYPE of politics and elections we are practicing.
We have to imagine another kind of election to Parliament that dispenses with violence and show of macho force. It is important that we do this as a matter of urgency otherwise this situation will lead to the formation of militias by all political parties and factions within the country in a very short time.
This is the simple but undeniable historic truth of such situations. This has been the kind of politics that has turned life in some African and Latin American countries into living nightmares.
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When militias are allowed free roaming, power goes to those who can arm and sustain such militias, and this is where and how drug barons eventually take hold of a country’s politics.
We are not there yet, and I am not saying we will get there; but if this current trend continues, then as day follows night, we will get there. I am not being a Cassandra. This is simple historic logic.
It is not enough for the Peace Council and other concerned institutions to wait until next year to issue calls for peace; a call for peace is not enough to prevent mayhem from descending on us. There has to be a strategy to ensure that guns and machetes and those wielding them are taken out of our politics for ever.
This means providing training and logistics to the security forces to ensure that they can deal with any untoward behaviour that arises during the election period.
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But better still, we have to be able to imagine another kind of politics that leads to democracy without violence and intimidation. We should be able to imagine a politics in which votes count and voters can vote for their preference without fear. We have to imagine a system that provides no incentives to use guns, machetes, stones or acid in the process.
This being Ghana, not much will be done beyond the froth of morning radio; we will talk about this until the next issue comes along. This should not be the case. We are playing Russian roulette not just with democracy, but with the future of our country.
Note to the reader: If you want to know the difference between the Ghana of our dreams and the Ghana that could happen, take a look at countries like South Sudan, DR Congo, Burundi, etc., and ask yourself this simple question: “What happened”.
(gapenteng@outlook.com)