Are we seeing a better Ghana now?

E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Ghanadot

August 17, 2009

A better Ghana was President Mills’ promise. But judging by what is going on at Akwatia now that political promise is way off track.

August 18, 2009, is to be the date for a rerun for an election that went awry in 2008 at Akwatia, at the close of which Dr. Kofi Asare, the NPP candidate was ahead of the NDC candidate, Baba Jamal, with over 3000 votes.

The total votes left to be polled in the rerun to conclude the elections are 4000. These votes are locked in six troubled precincts at Akwatia.

Security risk in these precincts is running high.  Concomitant with the risk is also the damage to the hard-earned reputation of Ghana being the most politically matured state among the nations of Africa; hence President Obama’s visit.

While that reputation might be true for months before Obama’s visit, it is hard to assert that claim today because of what is happening at Akwatia.

In this re-run, Baba Jamal will need a miracle to overcome the 3000 handicaps with his share in the remaining 4000 votes.

Hence, the Electoral Commission (EC), with a little political courage in 2008, should have declared that a favorable outcome for Jamal was a mathematical impossibility and thus Dr. Asare declared the winner.

 And with that, the commission could have spared us the drama we are experiencing at Akwatia now; loss of political prestige, disturbances at the six precincts, and the waste of time.

By ending the vote-counting in 2008, the EC could have spared the nation a lot of headaches.

The EC could then have used the occasion as a teaching moment. For those running for public offices, there will be the lesson that one cannot bend the public will with violence and disturbances at the poll.

This same lesson, that civilized behavior is needed at the polls at all times, will serve to undercut the influence of powerful politicians to promote the violent acts from our illiterate populations, which sole acts cause the disturbances during polling times.

But, thanks to the failure of the EC to act sternly, time and money will be wasted on a rerun, the outcome of which should already have been determined by the obvious mathematical impossibility of a win for Jamal in these precincts; unless there is a plan to upset Dr. Asare’s lead by foul means.

Given 3000 votes in the lead, it is hard to imagine how the NDC candidate could overcome this handicap with only 4000 votes left to contest for.

Baba Jamal will need more than 89% of the total votes left in the six communities to be declared the winner. This percentage, stacked up against the accepted belief that the six constituencies already favor the NPP, makes Jamal’s task even harder.

Yet, the rerun has been scheduled to go on.  As we wait for the polling and results, we also have to suffer the apprehension, and the knowledge of damage that the disorder at Akwatia is doing to our image as the lead African star of political maturity.

What is happening at Nketia is a replication of what has already happened in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and several other places in Africa.  So, where then is the political maturity?

You may argue that this political maturity idea is a myth. Myth or real, it was a pleasant experience that lasted throughout the Kufuor years.  And Obama was here to confirm it.

Myths are essential for nation-building. But they still require some trending toward reality, especially during changes in administrations.  However, this notion of the pleasant myth is being devoured, now that the ugly forces of politics are at work at Akwatia and clamoring to be heard.

According to news outlets, the trouble at Akwatia climaxed this weekend. A motorcade of several NPP activists, on their way to help with the elections, was stopped and some members were brutalized.

Among the victims were high officers of the NPP - Nana Ohene Ntow and Mac Manu, National General Secretary and Chairman of the NPP party, respectively. Both were alleged to be seriously hurt, with blood flowing profusely from their noses.

The Daily Graphic wrote that during the town wide confusion, Baba Jamal, the NDC candidate, also had to be escorted to safety, to hide within the confines of the NDC headquarters so as to escape the violence in the street.