The Road to Kigali Series: Response of a Concerned Citizen

My fellow Ghanaians, I have never been a political commentator, neither have I been a political junkie, but I decided to respond to the thirteen road to Kigali series written by our esteemed professor Okoampa Ahoofe as a concerned citizen of Ghana. This professor seems brilliant by all counts, and he is desperately trying to make a case of voting irregularities at polling stations coupled with unscrupulous decision making by Ghana’s Electoral Commission as the reason for NPP’s loss in last month’s general elections in Ghana. I must admit that I respect his stand on issues and also admire his persistence and unrelenting approach to convince the world of this election fraud and malfeasance, things that have to be verified by the courts if and whenever the case is made. My prayer is that we get a resolution to this impasse without anybody getting hurt in the process.

My biggest disappointment in this seemingly “man of letters”, however, is the tone of his commentaries that in my view could not only lead to possible ethnic unrest and agitation, but could eventually destabilize the peace and stability we are currently enjoying in the country. The dear professor will argue that there could be no peace without justice and I cannot disagree with him. However, he will also agree with me that Ghana has gained respect and admiration on a global scale because of the political maturity we show before, during, and after elections, our tribal indifferences and inclusiveness, as well as mutual respect for each other in our daily dealings despite our different political, social and regional identities. But his series, in my rather myopic view and to many others who react to his commentaries, his Road to Kigali series seem to be an effort to sow dissention among the people of Ghana through name calling, tribal and ethnic division, and unnecessary hateful political diatribe.

My utmost disbelieve is Dr. Okoampa’s choice of caption to his commentaries; “The Road to Kigali”, with reference to the rather unfortunate incidence of Rwanda in 1994. We all know that the road to Kigali was anything but enviable. It was strewn with seemingly superiority posturing by one tribe over the other and the unfortunate lack of discernment of some citizens of Rwanda to tolerate each other and live in harmony. I cringe when I read about Akans, Ewes, Gas, etc. in his commentaries because Ghana is more than one ethnic group, one tribe or one region. I am an Akan and I don’t see how and when the Akans became the majority. Thank God Ghanaians are taking the high road of tribal brotherhood and civility as we travel along holding hands and helping each jump over huddles along the way because we want to take this road with “common goals” to stimulate our economy and reduce poverty using our natural resources, promote food security, and ensure clean and sustainable environment. This road may be tortuous (with changing governments) and sometimes bumpy (as we are witnessing with these elections), but the important thing we need to remember is that we should try to avoid the type of road to Kigali which can be hard and painful to travel because of ethnic tensions or even sometimes impassable because of unfortunate ranting by some of our so-called political elite and even some of our seemingly intellectuals who should know better than I do.
Now the destination! What happened at Kigali, the destination as our esteemed professor is referring to, is also something the world is trying hard to erase from history. One person being lost from tribal hatred and intolerance is one too many but to lose more than 500,000 (and some put the number as high as 1 million) precious lives in 100 days is more than a travesty. This destination was full of horror, utmost disgust and persistent misery of its citizens till today. Is that the type of destination the professor wants for Ghana because a party lost an election? If we are heading to this destination because of our political differences, then we better change course and choose a better one because there are equally better places we could be. Here again, Ghana’s destination cannot be dictated by any one political party, neither can it be shaped by any one tribe or region. If errors were made during the elections, there are institutions in place to investigate and rectify the situation. After that it is up to the losing party to lick its wounds, regroup and plan strategically for the next elections. It is encumbered on upon all of us to accept this noble principle and be bound by it so we don’t end up in Kigali. You may call me naïve but as professor, I would expect Dr. Okoampa to shape the future because he has the responsibility to train future leaders to be patient, tolerant and accepting of each other’s views under all circumstances. I am sure he is doing just that but his commentaries give me a cause to be worried.
Finally, my hope is that despite our differences, we all join hands and work towards developing Ghana not only for our generation (especially for some of us who are basking in the glorious sunset of our existence on this earth) but to provide joyous beginnings and a solid foundation for future generations to build on. We can then proudly say that we swerved the road to Kigali and write commentaries like; “The Road to Prosperous Ghana: Parts 1-10”, one for each of our ten regions.

God Bless our Homeland Ghana!

Moses Frimpong

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