Leadership (Abuja)
3 October 2008
opinion
The above caption was attributed to a son of a rich Palestinian merchant, an Egyptian trained engineer, and leader of Fattah, later Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO). It is no other person than the charismatic, indifagable, articulate, and at times, controversial Yasser Arafat of blessed memory. Obviously, the headgear trademark anti-Zionist man with the olive branch and freedom fighter was referring to the prevailing situation in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Golan height, and Ramala chaotically rumbustious territories.
Africa had been in and out of the jungles of guns world, way before our unholy encounter with the Europeans. Preceding the arrival of our uninvited double-minded guests, empires and kingdoms wrestled for land and territorial expansions. Some opine that at that time, there were no guns, talk less of having a jungle of them. Yes, that is quite true. Are we then at liberty to say jungle of bows, arrows, daggers, and knives?
In West Africa, Ghana- the rising democratic doyen in the continent, the land of the Ashantis, Fantes, Ewes, Hausa-Fulanis and dozens of other ethnic groups – a jungle of guns has emerged!
This is an election year in Ghana. On Sunday, the 7th of December 2008, Ghanaians will head to the polls, the sixth time in their Fourth Republic. The people, on whom real sovereignty resides, will renew or terminate the mandate of all the 230 parliamentarians. Their judgment will either say: well done, good servant. You have kept faith with your promises. Your tenancy at the Osu Castle(presidential palace) has been renewed for another four years; or, get thee yonder, Judas, pack your bags and baggage and go home.
Since the commencement of their present democratic voyage in 1992, five national elections have been successfully prosecuted. Of particular reference were the 2000 elections which terminated and sent the then ruling NDC party to political wilderness. The exercise was a landmark because, the winner emerged after the first round of balloting ran short of producing an outright winner. A run-up ensued, thereby bringing the present ruling party NPP (then in opposition) to power. Another national election took place in 2004 which renewed the mandate of the NPP.
With few exceptions of minor incidences, the five elections passed the litmus test of universally accepted standards of a free and fair election. Even world number one elections monitor, Jimmy Carter, the former peanut farming governor of Georgia and later president of the USA, attested to the peaceful conduct of the election.
Within a short span of 15 years and some months, Ghana's democracy became a role model and a paragon of excellence in Africa and beyond. All liberties concomitant in a Western liberal democracy can be found in the country. Of all the fundamental human rights, none is available and cheaply affordable like that of speech and information. Ghana has God- knows- how- many radio stations and dozens of print media houses (for a population of 20 million). Most of the stations work 24 hours and more than a third of them are on net.
The press is robust, critical and alive to their constitutional ethics of holding a mirror to the government and the society. They seem to have the phone numbers of all stakeholders, from the commander-in-chief down to the least political office holder. Ministers and top government functionaries are always on air clearing and defending actions taken or not. Leadership here is serious business and a big burden; it is not riding a forest of jeeps, owning guesthouses and intimidating people.
The quintessential link of Ghana democracy is the culture of a strong internal party democracy. As at last count, not less than 14 MPs, including seating ministers from the ruling party and many others from the opposition, lost their party primaries. Cases came up where the national leadership of the ruling party tried to bend due process to favour incumbent MPs. That illegality was successfully challenged and crushed by the delegates and party officers (polling unit chairmen).
The economy was able to withstand the shocks of world fuel and food hikes, with little stress! They have been able to clean-up bags of glut that prohibits them going straight to the world financial markets without a recommendation from the IMF and World Bank. There was also the currency reform which equals the value of a cedi to a dollar. However, beyond the officialdom, the parallel markets of Zango, Osu, and Madina (black market enclaves) have placed the cedi in its proper value.
As Ghanaian democracy was becoming a cradle and beacon of reference in sub-Sahara Africa, it stepped on banana peels. The laws of diminishing returns seems to set in. Suddenly, a country that successfully organised four credible national elections duly certified by the international community is losing all to pre-elections violence, under the command of guns and other instrument of coercion. The country is fast becoming a 'democracy in a jungle of guns'. Trigger-happy hoodlums are on shooting sprees and have taken over the electioneering campaigns, especially in Northern Ghana, incidentally where we have our brothers who came trading and could not return. This Janjaweed culture of impunity came to the fore during the voter registration exercise. That time, sporadic shooting was reported in Tamale, Volta, and Tema in Greater Accra region.
This unwarranted culture of impunity forced the Northern regional minister, Alh.Mustapha Ali Idris and Tamale metropolitan chief executive officer, Mohammed Amin Anta, to doubt the possibility of conducting a free and fair election in such an atmosphere.
As the zero hour approaches, tension is skyrocketing by the minutes. Stalwarts of the two leading parties have placed propaganda flick knives on each other's throat; entertaining our widely opened inching ears with unaware revelations dating back to the 50s and early 60s when the first president and the father of the nation, Dr. Kwame Nkwumah was dethroned. However, the pertinent question for us is: can democracy survive in a jungle of guns?
•Danfulani writes from the University of Ghana, Legon, Accra
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