Nosike Ogbuenyi
6 January 2009
analysis
Lagos — Today, a new president, 64-year old Professor John Evans Atta Mills will be sworn in for the neighbouring Republic of Ghana. The tax expert who was the candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), captured the presidency via a razor-edge victory.
He garnered 50.23 percent of the vote to 49.77 percent for Dr. Nana Akufo-Addo, the candidate of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). The final result was announced Saturday afternoon by that country's chief electoral officer, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan.
Atta Mills' inauguration takes place at the Independence Square in the country's capital city, Accra. It is at the same historic square that Ghana set the pace in 1957 when it became the first West African country to attain independence from Britain.
After his declaration as the winner of the race, Atta Mills had told his country men and women that "the time has come to work together to build a better Ghana." He did not clinch the presidency on a platter. The energy-sapping ballot marked the third time he ran for president. In two previous attempts in 2000 and 2004 elections, Atta Mills came close but failed to make it as he lost consecutively to John Kufuor. He never gave up the fight or tried to pull down the system as some Nigerian politicians would likely do if found in his shoe. Like a vulture who loves his country, he waited for his day and it has eventually come. That large-hearted attitude is a big lesson for Nigerian politicians and political parties.
The recent race which ended in his favour was a long drawn nail-biter which climaxed with his declaration as the winner. It was by all ratings a titanic race which stretched Ghana's nine year-old Fourth Republic to its ultimate elasticity. Not a few analysts had predicted Armageddon for Ghana's young democracy after the first ballot on December 7 and the second one on 28 failed to produce a clear winner between Atta Mills and Dr. Akufo-Addo, the presidential candidate of the ruling NPP.
A second run-off was fixed for last Friday, January 2, 2009 in Brong Ahafo's tiny Tain constituency. Atta Mills, who had taken an approximately 23,000 over Akufo Addo prior to the run-off in Tain widened the lead to 40,000 after result in the last constituency was released by the Electoral Commission. With that, the EC Chairman, Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan had no choice than to declare him Ghana's President. The announcement, heralded all over the world was the culmination of nearly one month of suspense and the conduct of a peaceful ballot that secured the West African country's place as a beacon of democracy on a usually volatile continent.
By that feat, Ghana further entrenched its enviable place as one of the few African countries to successfully transferred power thrice from one legitimately elected leader to another. The change of baton in this dispensation first happened in 2000 when the then President John Jerry Rawlings of NDC handed over to the then o candidate, John Agyekum Kufuor. Rawlings ruled Ghana democratically for eight years from 1992 to 2000. Before transmuting to a civilian he had ruled the country despotically as a soldier through decrees.
It is noteworthy that his military administration executed three former Heads of State of that country to clear the path for the new democratic order.
Interestingly, the man, Rawlings handed over to eight years ago, Kufuor, is the same person handing over power to his party's candidate, Atta Mills today. It is a testimony that Ghana's democracy has truly matured after an era of coups and dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s.
The emergence of the new president did not come on a platter as the scaling of the current transition hurdle presented the toughest challenges. As already stated the elections had to be done thrice before a winner could be declared.
Palpable anxiety and tension had gripped Ghana following what could easily pass for its tightest and closest presidential race so far. At a stage, pundits predicted eruption of mayhem as the rivalry between the ruling NDC and the opposition became more acerbic and hateful. A repeat of the Kenya's bloodbath of last year and Nigeria's June 12, 1993 bloody protests was feared. At a stage, Ghana's ruling party candidate, Akufo-Addo, seemed to have fallen for the bait as he headed for the court to seek annulment of the results and conduct of a fresh exercise
Former United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, who is a world renowned peace broker and who sealed the peace deal in Kenya last year flew home into Ghana on January 1, a day to the decisive second run-off in Tain. The famous diplomat spent the remaining days and night working behind the scenes to calm frayed nerves and douse tensions. His sorties paid off handsomely as the loser, Akufo Addo, withdrew his court case and congratulated Atta Mills upon his declaration as Ghana's President-Elect on Saturday. The out-going president, Kufuor, who is the leader of NPP, equally appealed for calm and prevailed on his party members including its candidate to accept the result as the will of the people.
The largely peaceful and credible presidential election was by several indices a rare example of a functioning democracy in Africa that is worthy of emulation by others especially on the continent. Following a deeply flawed general election in Nigeria in April, 2007 and similar experience in Kenya plus other traces of political instability here and there on the continent, so much was focused on Ghana. The success of the transition has been widely commended with some people declaring that that it has boosted Africa's democratic credentials.
To many commentators, transiting peacefully from one president to another for a third consecutive time in Africa was feat deserving of accolades. Thus torrents of praises have been raining on Ghana, its leadership, the electoral commission and the people from all over Nigeria, Africa and the world. It has really turned the heat on countries like Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Zimbabwe and even Nigeria to up their democratic records.
Some of the comments on the Ghanaian stride have turned out to be either an indictment or wake up call on Nigeria whose democratic system is still wobbly and clueless.
The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, said "We cannot forget the statesmanlike and noble role played by President John Kufuor in keeping his head above waters, refusing to manipulate the elections or allowing himself to be swayed in the face of his party's defeat".
The CNPP described the Ghanaian historic democratic growth as "a memorable lesson to democratic pretenders like Nigeria, where democracy is vanishing, where the electoral commission is a department of the executive, where the judiciary is manipulated and political culture of do-or-die reigns". Whereas no life was lost in the Ghanaian elections; Nigeria lost over.
On its part, the Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA), in a statement signed by Mr. Emmanuel Onwubiko, commended Ghanaians, especially the outgoing President John Kufuor, for overseeing a general election that has been internationally acclaimed as being free, fair and peaceful. HURIWA said it is quite remarkable that Ghana's recent presidential election witnessed the emergence of an opposition politician, Professor Atta-Mills while Akufo-Addo, the candidate of the ruling party, accepted defeat gallantly after two run-off polls.
Consequently, the human rights group called on Nigeria's president, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, to quickly set workable machinery in motion to implement the salient and strategic aspects of the recommendations of the Justice Muhammadu Lawal Uwais-led Electoral Reform Committee. Along this line, it stressed the need for the strengthening and granting of true independence to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In his own response, Chief Sonny Iroche, a banker and member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nigeria, commended the Electoral Commission of Ghana while describing the successful election as a manifestation of the maturity of the electoral body. He called on Nigeria's INEC to emulate what its counterpart in Ghana has achieved.
The hope that Ghana's model would have a spill-over effect in West Africa is evident throughout the sub-region. "I hope and pray that the spirit with which the election has been fought and won will be nurtured and promoted not only in Ghana, but also in West Africa," Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, Nigeria's High Commissioner to Ghana was quoted as saying.
Similarly, Britain's Baroness Valerie Amos, who led an election monitoring group from the Commonwealth, which includes several African states, said the electoral process was generally credible, while it was now left for other African countries still struggling to entrench democratic systems to take a cue.
To the Kenyan Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, the triumph of the opposition candidate, Atta Mills' victory and the conduct of the people of Ghana "provides a rare example of democracy at work in Africa,".
As the English people say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, implying a country like Nigeria really has no choice than to buckle up and grow its democracy to overcome its multiple ills and pitfalls. Just like in 1952 when young Anthony Enahoro, then a Zikist, moved the motion for Nigeria's independence in three years time but was shouted down by retrogressive forces, Nigeria had several chances in the past to advance democratically beyond Ghana but frittered them. For instance, if the Second Republic which came into being in 1979 had thrived to this day, Nigeria's democracy would have clocked 40 this year. But that was not to be.
Rather than move on a steady course, Nigeria's attempts at democracy have been in fits and ebbs. Military cliques, ruling parties and electoral umpires have often worked in cahoots to stymie the process. The catalogue of failures has been so disturbing to many patriots that the very workability of the nation itself had been often put to question. But for how long shall the vicious circle continue? It took the example of Ghana in 1957 for the giant to wake up and agitate for its independence, perhaps, the present shining democratic example, may be the elixir Nigeria has been waiting to rise from its democratic stupor.
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