“The NDC has revolutionary roots, and so when it comes to unleashing violence, no party can beat us.”
The foregone, ungraceful and uncouth as they sound, were words of President John Mahama when he was in opposition, and what a testimonial that was for his party. To think that he rendered them unsolicited for his party, boggles the mind and speaks volumes about the mindset of the P(NDC) membership. The rulebook applicable in the days of abductions and executions is still at hand, its contents all but modified a little.
Indeed, at the time he spewed the unenviable remarks, nobody queried him for being so callous at a time we should be advancing in democracy. We can bet he was rather applauded for his attempts at instilling crude fear and panic among the National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s political opponents who have long developed crocodile skins against such threats.
Today, productive ideas not brawn rule the political plane.
He was right with his boastful testimonial because the NDC whose origin is steeped in bloodshed, executions and disappearances of persons has hardly altered its crude approach to governance.
Last weekend’s constituency elections of the NDC cast a disturbing shadow over democracy in this country.
The picture of a police officer clutching a ballot box and running away from a rowdy group of NDC supporters, perhaps in his bid to protect the contents therein, was appalling.
We cannot lay claim to democratic progress when the kind of violence we noticed continues to prevail in the ruling party. We should have long grown past this antiquated 1980s politics of violence. Well, from President Mahama’s remarks, this feature is engraved in the party’s DNA and would remain so in as long as the party persists as a political grouping in this country.
It was saddening when the ruling party decided to display abusive opulence under cameras as delegates received packages of gifts in a country where most people live under the poverty line.
Electricity bills, schools and other financial burdens, all of which the citizens were promised by the ruling party to reduce when they were in opposition, have become sources of risen adrenalin levels.
The corruption and abuse of office charges which have been levelled against the ruling government could not have gotten a better evidence than last weekend’s political activities.
Unfortunately, the leadership of the party rather than query the smelly activities, patted each other on the back.
There was no wonderful performance when vote-buying, violence and show of ill-gotten wealth blurred what should have been a peaceful and decent electoral process.
That this is happening at a time when the ruling party is on the spot for an assortment of financial scandals has prompted Ghanaians to wonder whether the proceeds of the instances of graft were what they witnessed during the process.
The optics for our democracy are not impressive, and the earlier something is done to reverse it, the better it would be for our choice.
What we saw last weekend was nothing but a charade of democracy.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) did it excellently when it was its turn and earned plaudits from the respectable Centre for Democratic Development (CDD).