Unfinished Akwatia business
We all have cause to be jubilant and pat our backs for the open, transparent and relatively peaceful conduct of the Akwatia by-election.
It demonstrated that we know how to conduct orderly and peaceful elections as was done for Kumawu, Assin North and Ejisu, but decided to sit idly by and allowed hoodlums to undermine the Chereponi, Atiwa and the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-elections and the Ablekuma North rerun. History should, therefore, not be distorted or misconstrued to suggest that the Akwatia by-election is the first of its kind in the country.
Last Saturday, there was another orderly electoral process for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to select a candidate for the Tamale Central by-election on September 30, this year.
Whilst we need to congratulate Prof. Alidu Seidu on transitioning from a political scientist into a practitioner, we must, however, not forget the thorough security strategies, tactics and arrangements that were deployed to guarantee the integrity of the process.
There was strict enforcement of the requirement of accreditation before persons were admitted into the inner perimeter of the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium, either as voting delegates, candidate agents, journalists, party officials or officials of the Electoral Commission. We need a better and more secure environment for all national elections.
That is the only way to deal with the abuse by government and party officials, who throng polling stations on election days to cause mayhem and vandalism.
The lawlessness and intimidation must end to empower voters to exercise their inalienable right, their franchise in freedom, to ensure free and independent choices.
Such saturated presence of people who have no direct roles to play in the exercise only creates a suffocating atmosphere of intimidation, abuse and subversion of all the fundamentals of free, fair, open and transparent election and the ethos of democracy, which is fundamentally about respect for rules and regulations before numbers become significant.
At Akwatia last week Tuesday, it was the circumspection, restraint and discretion exercised by the Police in not arresting the Vice-Chairman of the NDC, Sofo Azorka, and his cohorts, that averted a potential bloodbath.
If the footage shown on national television screens reflected happenings, then any fairminded person must condemn the physical attack and violent mood demonstrated by the NDC Vice Chairman, Indeed those of us old enough to recollect the Azorka Boys will remember what happened many years ago when the NDC held its national delegates conference in Koforidua, and some perceived unwelcome party leaders were held to ransom, with the concomitant breakaway of a faction, including Dr Obed Asamoah and Goosie Tandoh, forming a new party.
Physical assault
We did not only see physical assault meted out to the New Patriotic Party vice chairman, more important we heard clearly and distinctively the threat of death against the Minority Leader, Afenyo-Markin, that if the Azorka group and the Afenyo-Markin group had met at the place where the Minority Leader is alleged to have destroyed the posters of the NDC candidate there would have been a by-election in the Effutu Constituency.
No matter what and how anybody wants to interprete the statement, the only way such a by-election will happen is when the elected representative dies, because the Minority Leader has not said anywhere that he will resign, neither is he under any process of impeachment or investigation for being of infirm mind nor confirmed to be unable to perform his duties as a Member of Parliament.
Article 19(10) states that, "No person shall be convicted of a criminal offence unless the offence is defined and the penalty for it is prescribed in a written law".
The law is clear: any person who issues a threat or threatens to kill another person, for whatever purpose or reason, commits a crime.
The threat that if the NDC group had met Minority Leader Afenyo-Markin and his followers, there would have been a by-election in the Effutu Constituency can only mean that Afenyo-Markin would have been murdered.
Whatever misconduct Afenyo-Markin committed deserves to be dealt with according to the rule of law and due process, but not through instant justice and impunity.
Even if the Minority Leader physically removed posters of a candidate observable at a polling station, that could not deserve a death penalty, no matter how problematic or irritating it looked.
It is unlawful and illegal under the laws of our country for a poster of a candidate to be seen at a polling station on election day. Article 41(i) imposes an obligation on every person in Ghana "to cooperate with lawful agencies in the maintenance of law and order," and, therefore, the Minority Leader could have drawn the attention of the security agencies and the Electoral Commission to abate the blatant illegality.
Threat
But no matter how any other person was provoked, that did not warrant a threat of death.
That is why we are watching how the police, through the Attorney General, will ensure justice such that such arbitrariness and wanton abuse of law and order, in the name of partisan politics, would be eliminated to give meaning to the rule of law.
Even if the process of seeking justice will lead to a judgement of mere caution and a bond of good behaviour, that would push our democracy forward and serve as a deterrent.
But, even as I have commended the police for exercising discretion in not arresting the NDC Vice-Chairman, we must not gloss over the fact that if ordinary citizens had demonstrated what happened, including the slapping of the NPP chairman, those involved would have been picked up immediately for disturbing the public peace.
Yet the 1992 Constitution provides under Article 17 that "(1) All persons shall be equal before the law "(2).
A person shall not be discriminated against on grounds of gender, race, colour, ethnic origin, religion, creed or social or economic status " and "(3) For this article, "discriminate" means to give different treatment to different persons attributable only or mainly to their respective descriptions by race, place of origin, political opinions, colour, gender, occupation, religion or creed, whereby persons of one description are subjected to restrictions to which persons of another description are not made subject or are granted privileges or advantages which are not granted to persons of another description".
Article 1(2) states that "This Constitution shall be the supreme law of Ghana and any other law found to be inconsistent with any provision of this Constitution shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void".
In the face of Article 19(10) and the Criminal Code Act 29, a prima facie case could be established unless the Attorney General decides to use his discretion not to prosecute or enter nolle prosequi. Political violence may proffer undeserved advantages to parties or candidates, but does not promote peace, order, unity, national cohesion, nor result in justice.
The open, transparent, orderly and near peaceful nature of the Akwatia by-election, a constituency prone to violence and which cannot be said to be the safe seat or dominance of any of the two major political parties, has added a new dimension to Kumawu, Ejisu and Assin North.
But the work is not finished until justice is done about the unfortunate development involving the Vice-Chairmen of the NDC and the NPP.
We are all watching to see how matters are brought to a close to demonstrate that we do not profess one thing and act differently in the pursuit of justice and mutual respect.
