A. R. Harruna Attah
21 November 2008
column
As way back as 1969, we had photo IDs for election purposes. I had one. I was, let me see, 17, I think.
Things were so relaxed and we had the innocence of a growing nation, more like the allegorical film, The Boy Kumasenu.
We were just coming out of our first coup - '66-'69, and there was so much hope that we had put all of that behind us and were moving into a new era of peace, progress and prosperity.
The soldiers who perpetrated that coup knew better not to overstay their welcome and within three years they were planning to pack up and go (three years was how long it took us to come out of the curfew imposed by a later coup).
Those of them who had a taste for politics, like the late Lt. General Afrifa, did the proper thing by removing their uniforms and trying their prowess at the parliamentary system. It was a kind of expiation...That did not save him as they murdered him 10 years later.
In the '69 election, it was Busia's PP and Gbedmah's NAL which were the main rivals. The campaigning was good natured and both men used to attract huge crowds on their campaign trails. As a teenager, the word violence never crossed my mind. In fact, our elders never used such words.
Though my late father was a PP supporter, many members of my extended family were NAL. There really was no problem. I remember when Mr. Gbedemah made a triumphant entry into Tamale, I was so impressed by the rush of the crowd lining the street to welcome him that I ran to the roadside and made the V sign as his convoy drove past our house. Busia's was the clenched fist.
Yes, like I was saying, though the rivalry was intense, one never heard one's elders discussing violence...
Did I vote? I do not remember what I did with that card. I kept it for a number of years till I lost it.
Now 40 years down the road and violence has taken centre stage in our election speak.
Where did that one too come from?
How did we allow it to enter our electoral lexicon?
Who is behind it?
Have we gone or have we come?
Kwami, this is retrogression, pure and simple: It is such a shame! After 40 years, instead of us reclining in the portals of civilized electoral behaviour, it is in the jungle of small minds that we are wallowing in. Ohhhhh God!
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