Ghana on the brink of anomie

President Mills tooted his own horn regarding the achievements of his administration in the first 100 days of his presidency. When the NPP won the 2004 elections I wrote about the danger of relegating the opposition NDC to the dustbin of history. I wrote then that not only was a viable opposition needed if our fledgling democracy was to survive, we also needed a credible alternative to the ruling government as a necessary countervailing force to its indiscretions. Looking at the 2008 election returns, it is pertinent to note that 49.77% of the electorate who cast their votes did not vote for the NDC. That is a number that cannot be ignored regardless of whether all the NPP votes came from one region. We do not have an Electoral College system of democracy in Ghana. So a vote cast in Upper West is equally as important as a vote cast in Brong Ahafo. President Mills is presiding over a much divided nation and he needs to pacify this divided nation. The greatest test of his leadership will be how he astutely handles this issue. But so far, he has failed. This is why.

Anomie

The NDC’s reckless disregard for constitutional values is fast acquiring a tincture of anomie. What we have is a constitutionally elected government that has metamorphosed into a car-snatching syndicate and a demolition brigade bent on trampling on the rights of its so-called political enemies. The invasion of the Castle by Victor Smith and his lawless band of gung-ho commandos, BNI operatives invading ex-President Kuffour’s residence, the subsequent threat to demolish the residence, Mensah Nunoo’s pronouncement on the alleged corruption in the NPP administration and the threat of imminent arrests of ex-officials- all show that Ghana is on the brink of anomie. The incessant hectoring by the NDC propaganda machinery’s “holier than thou” campaign directed at the NPP reached a critical mass when Mr. Kwame Mpiani was detained by the BNI. It’s a very sad day in Ghana when the National Security Chief uses innuendo to make claims that ranges from far-fetched to scurrilous to slanderous to score cheap political points and even sadder day when two journalists enjoying their lunch under a tree near the BNI offices are detained for no justifiable cause. By the way, there is a McDonalds just across the street from the FBI Headquarters in downtown Washington and people go there freely to eat without any threat of detention. Where is the rule of law when the National Security Chief assumes the role of Attorney General? I’m all for accountability and probity in public office. For Heaven’s sake let the rule of law prevail. The presumption of innocence until proven guilty should be a cardinal feature of Ghanaian jurisprudence. The left wing elements within the NDC are at their game again using the same insidious and anti-democracy canard they employed during the heydays of the PNDC dictatorship, to shift blame and odium to the NPP for what currently ails Ghana. Accusing a predecessor government of corruption and other economic malfeasance is fast becoming a universal and perennial facet of the Ghanaian body politic. It’s time to end this practice. If anything untoward was done by any ex-government official, please conduct the investigations in camera without any fanfare or leaks and if indictable evidence is uncovered, prosecute the culprits regardless of whose ox is gored. The NDC propaganda machinery should cease its current vendetta to prosecute the NPP officials in the court of public opinion. If the government has indictable evidence, for heaven’s sake let the alleged culprits have their day in court. The current judge and jury circus by the NDC must end. Once upon a time, when investigations revealed that high ranking officials in the course of their duties committed acts that were tainted or vitiated with corruption and other illegality, indictments were returned. The alleged culprits had their day in court and they faced a jury of their peers. Why can’t the NDC do the same? Let me make it clear to the NDC that the era of detentions without trial and arrests without due process are gone and it’s too late in the day to reinvent them.

Populist Cheap Shots

The NDC promised the unattainable during the elections and now that reality has set in, it wants to blame the NPP for everything including the crucifixion of Christ. The NDC has not curbed its addiction to big government, unaffordable entitlement, cradle to grave welfare and mendicity dependence. Now that the massive foreign aid required to sustain this addiction has dried up, the blame game is in full gear. The anti business populist utterances of the NDC’s left wing ideologues are driving away foreign investors. The government then wonders why the value cedi has been depreciating since the NDC came into office. Mr. President, tell us how you’re going to solve the problems facing the nation. We have had enough of what went wrong under the NPP. Tell us the measures you are taking to solve the problems. If you do not have a checklist of what needs to be done as a matter of national urgency, I’m willing to offer my services. I doubt whether you will accept help from a card carrying member of the NPP who happens to be a firm believer in property owning democracy. Mr. President, may be you do not see the signs, but the writing is clearly on the wall that the current state of anomie poses existential threat to our nascent democracy.

NDC’s Para-Military Pretensions and violence

President Mills should assure the nation that not only has the NDC rid itself of its para-military pretentions but it has also shed its anti-business and anti-democracy patina. The NDC should note that winning the election does not constitute a declaration of open season on the use of violence and intimidation to advance its agenda. Seizing cars of ex-government officials without due process is wrong. Does the government know the number of cars in its fleet? Who keeps the inventory? If the various government departments performed their functions efficiently, the government would know who had what car and for what. Instead of resorting to daylight car snatching, let the government start inventorying all the cars in its fleet and with proper asset management, we will not have to revisit this issue four years from now. The whole car snatching operation is a national disgrace.

Deafening Silence

What scares me is that the NDC is following a familiar routine used by tyrannical regimes in history to silence political opponents. Tyrannical regimes often try their opponents in the media, by demonizing them so that when the opponents finally have their day in court, the outcome is always guilty as charged. There is a deafening silence in terms of public outcry when all these threats and intimidations and detentions are going on. Today, it’s the NPP, tomorrow it might be your party. I want to remind Ghanaians of the poem by Martin Niemöller a German pastor and theologian who was arrested by Hitler and confined in the Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps. He wished he had spoken out earlier against Hitler. When the Nazis came for the communists,

I remained silent; I was not a communist.

Then they locked up the social democrats,

I remained silent;

I was not a social democrat. Then they came for the trade unionists, I did not protest; I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, I did not speak out; I was not a Jew. When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.

In 2005, I wrote an article headed “is the Kufour administration driving the NPP into oblivion?” I concluded the article with the following: “ if the government intends to win back the public confidence, it must enact political reforms to server any dubious ties to tainted money, show transparency in governance and inculcate honesty and decency in government officials, otherwise in 2008, we will be writing the eulogy of the NPP- and we will be lamenting what a wasted opportunity” Let’s see how President Mills transforms his vision for the country into a reality. If he proves clueless, not only will he be a one term president but we will be giving the eulogy of the NDC in 2012 and this time around it will be for eternity. God Bless Ghana.

Baffour Ennin -Washington DC