Nana Aba Anamoah
We have needed to have this talk for a long time.
It’s about time we sat down and checkmated ourselves as Ghanaians – frankly I don’t know what in the Name of GOD is going on under the guise of politics and campaigning. What the hell is going on? Why will people fight among themselves and hurt each other just because its elections time? I’ve had just about enough of it…. and I am absolutely sure that you have had enough as well.
I’m pretty angry. I’m at my wit’s end. Saying I’m pissed off doesn’t even begin to explain how I genuinely feel right now.
My mood is somewhere between annoyance and sadness.
Why have we allowed ourselves to be used as pawns by politicians in their quest for power?
As I was busy on my usual ritual of catching news updates on citifmonline.com, starrfmonline.com and myjoyonline.com I couldn’t for the life of me understand why someone, our very own, a fellow Ghanaian, had lost a finger in Asunafo South as a result of clashes between members of the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress. (myjoyonline.com)
On the same day, clashes in Weija-Gbawe constituency between the NDC and the NPP had left a young man with face injuries. (starrfmonline.com)
Why do we resort to such levels of chaos?
Why?
I’m sincerely baffled.
And frustrated.
And sick to the stomach.
Every election period is littered with stories about someone doing something as blatantly irresponsible as beating people and inflicting wounds on them.
What sort of thinking will result in a security guard losing his eye in a reprisal attack? What kind of thinking leads to the destruction of state/community property?
We’ve allowed politicians to think of us as poor people living in a stinking pot that they can pick up to use as dummies at their own convenience.
We need that to stop.
We need to shut the politician and his selfish interests up.
Despite our many differences, our country is a grand experiment in bringing people of different backgrounds together, not one against the other.
Which is why it is foolish for anyone to take up arms and fight for a political party, and even more foolish to believe that the political party they are ready to lose a limb or two for, cares about them.
We have no one to blame but ourselves, because these are the people who know we will vote them into office come hell or high water.
This can go on and on, but the main purpose of this piece is a reminder that:
You’re more than a politician’s puppet.
You’re more than a political party’s force of darkness.
You have a voice! You have the power to decline the politician’s ridiculous offer to go create mayhem, no matter how tempting the offer.
We’re all faced with a historic occasion in the upcoming elections and we can’t afford to throw this country into total anarchy and chaos.
We have a responsibility to get to the bottom of the stinking attitude of these irresponsible people who fight and destroy property, and not only determine who they are but also to apply the appropriate sanctions on them. Those responsible for every grain of gross misbehavior in our political process, and those who might contemplate similar moves in the future, need to understand that such actions will have consequences.
If we don’t stand against this sort of madness, political parties will forever be grateful to us for giving them the platform to use us for their political gains.
Let’s make Ghana a better place and the reference point for all countries – because the pockets of violence we experience in the run up to every election and how some political parties think of a section of our youth as puppets isn’t what the founders of this nation envisaged for us.
If you close your eyes to facts, you will learn through accidents.
Write by Nana Aba Anamoah
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