Strictly positive defiance! Please provoke not the NDC to wrath.

There is no denying the importance of the December 28 runoff election to our democracy as a country and stature on the continent of Africa. Whereas others on the continent have misbehaved and in the end brought immeasurable suffering to large sections of their people, Ghana over the past 16 years has used patience and the court system to resolve issues of electoral conflict, even though the pace has been excruciatingly slow. There are worrying signs emerging in some quarters of the country that need to be flagged and dealt with as soon as possible. One of the prospective trouble spots is the Ashanti Region. I find the current state of affairs in the Ashanti Region as most distressing. The region is one of Ghana’s most accommodating regions, where nationals and foreigners alike enjoy hospitable treatment. I personally spent 15 years of my life studying and working in Kumasi, the regional capital, as a journalist with the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation. It is a warm place with a lot of greenery that guarantees sustained golden sunshine and rainfall throughout the year and gives you the image of a picturesque modern city. I lived through the late 80s when Jerry Rawlings brought very massive infrastructural development to the place ,particularly in Kumasi. The modern road network the Jerry Rawlings administration brought came with its share of tragedies. Speeding vehicles brought sadness to many homes especially on the Amakom- Aboabo and Airport side of the road, a place I avoided as best as I could for fear of been run over by a reckless driver or in case of bad luck on my part. The region, like all parts of Ghana has its share of rich tradition and culture, with its own list of heroes and nationalists. It even radiates a peculiar nostalgic scent and continues to evoke treasured childhood memories for me. I find it most worrying that attempts are being made to taint the region. The Ruling party has grossly misbehaved in the past and continue to do so. NDC operatives in the region have either been murdered or harassed as happened in Tafo in the early 90s and most recently at Manhyia, the magnificent seat of the Ashanti King, where NPP supporters and operatives displayed gross disregard for custom and etiquette. The former First Lady was manhandled and a bodyguard of the former President also ruffled badly. It was at a gathering of chiefs and people of Asanteman to celebrate one of the most important events on the Ashanti calendar. The NPP does not understand there is a place and time for dirty politicking. The ex-president’s bodyguard was ridiculously accused of having in his possession a gun, as if to say the body guard should carry bow and arrows or pebbles as in medieval times. The NPP is using the region to create a situation of "we and them" and trying hard to draw into politics neutral traditional institutions. Serious allegations of electoral fraud have been raised in the Tuesday special voting in the region for security officials, media and electoral commission officials who would be busy on voting day, December 28. But more worrying are statements coming from both parties in the contest. The ruling party’s Kwabena Agyapong has said in an interview immediately after the first round of voting they are going to win the run off by any means. Whew! By any means? Now that is cause for great concern. It was not quite surprising though, coming from a man many see as belonging to the belligerent arm of the ruling party. That kind of hawkish attitude is enough to make you freeze. Worse things have been said by leading members of the NPP when they were in opposition, particularly in the run up to the 2000 elections. It was easier to pick out words like flames, mayhem, brimstone and fire. I felt a sense of dizziness when I read a report from Joy FM about a statement made by a supporter of the opposition NDC in the presence of the party’s Ashanti Regional chair person. Mr. Agyekum and a group of NDC supporters had been protesting at the way elections were conducted in the Ashanti Region where the party believes persons who were not qualified to take part in the special voting were permitted to vote, disregarding the rules of the game. What is most worrying to me is when one of the protesters reportedly said "we will burn down the country" if the elections were rigged in favour of the ruling party. For the record, I am a card-bearing, fee-paying, diehard member of the opposition NDC. And Like the majority of Ghanaians, who in seven out of ten regions voted resoundingly for Prof. Mills, I believe the NPP came to power to rip-off Ghanaians. It is apparent in the way they have carried about their activities in the last eight years, the incompetence, contracts they have entered into on behalf of the people of Ghana (One can imagine the hell British taxpayers will raise if the Queen or government officials flew any carrier other than British Airways on taxpayers money. And in the case of Ghana, this is a government that claims to have the interest of Ghana and Ghanaian business) and fighting corruption in the administration. Hawkishness on the part of anyone should not be encouraged. The leadership of our party do not endorse violence. Prof. Mills, Jerry Rawlings, Harry Sawyer, Bagbin, Tony Aidoo, Dr. Kwabena Adjei, Dr. Kumbour and the entire leadership and the millions of foot "SOULJAHS" and sympathisers across the country and abroad do not endorse violence. It’s been demonstrated time and again. Our party leadership would not have left the political scene if they wanted power by any means necessary. It is important to use every opportunity to educate our followers, some of whom may either be too young to understand what it means to "burn down" one’s country even though they may have a legitimate cause. It is not just reason enough to even think about making the lives of our own people miserable and draw back the clock of development. It is the difference in ideology and love of nation epitomised by our forbearers like Jerry Rawlings and Prof. Atta Mills which has attracted most of us, if not all to the NDC. Let us continuously set ourselves apart. The ruling NPP is undoubtedly provoking the NDC to wrath by adopting all forms and manner of crude tactics to rig the election. All stakeholders in the security agencies and the EC must be patriotic enough to use what Jerry Rawlings calls "POSITIVE DEFIANCE" where subordinates are expected to disregard and disobey unlawful orders. Stakeholders should not allow themselves to be co-opted into taking part in anything that would make us all losers. The time for vigilance and positive defiance is now. It is a time to shine and soar above the rest of the nations of Africa and beyond. We are Kwame Nkrumah’s Ghana, and cannot afford to get it wrong. We have the "CAN DO IT SPIRIT" of our founding fathers and we can stifle any attempt by the government to deny the choice of the people. Credit: Ras Mubarak

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