Less than 20 days to the big day; Are you ready?
It’s becoming closer and closer by the day and in less than 20 days this much awaited Election Day will come and go just like it happened in the United States America last week.
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One thing is for sure, we shall have a president-elect before the New Year and then, hopefully, the hullabaloo will go down a bit. Don’t count on it though.
As you may have observed, all the things that should happen before we can have an election are falling in place. There has, for example, been a deluge of messages and music preaching peace before during and after the elections.
This is a four-year cycle of preaching peace and calling of people, especially the youth, to not avail themselves to be used by politicians to cause acrimony, disturbance and any such social violence that would lead to mayhem.
Then there is the issue of projects inauguration by the incumbent party. Technically the government is elected for four years and any project could be executed and inaugurated during that period, election year inclusive. However, we know from the days of Rawlings through Kufour that a lot more happens and strategically so during election years and this year has been no exception.
Talking about which our television screens were lit last Monday during the inauguration of the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange and its subsequent opening to traffic. I could count about five television stations that carried the event live and the pomp and pageantry was not lost on even the most casual observer.
This is a massive infrastructural project that will ease the traffic in that part of town and make life a bit more bearable to drivers, commuters, pedestrians, traders and all the hordes of people who use that part of Accra every day. Regardless of the period of time – too close to elections or otherwise – the government needs to be commended for such a feat. Governments are elected to do these things, yes, but we need to commend them when they do. The opposition should cut them some slack
On the other hand, this project was done in the name of the Ghanaian with public funds and not money from any individual or party’s pocket hence the portrayal of such should not be rubbed in the face of the Ghanaian. Such condescending behavior by individuals and parties in government when they build anything contributes to the polarisation of the people.
Then there is the issue of violence and rumours of violence from all across the country. I was watching the news the other day when they were talking about all the flashpoints that the Electoral Commission has identified and that which the police has identified. These things obviously exacerbate around elections and they are worrisome.
In relation to that was the disturbing news last weekend of a clash between NDC and NPP supporters in front of Nana Akufo-Addo’s house. Very unnecessary incident and yet the leaders on both sides have not called their people to order. At least not openly.
Following that nasty incident we have been sternly warned by the UK and US missions to desist from such acts or perpetrators face sanctions. How disgraceful, how demeaning as though we know not what we are about! This is 2016, not 1992 and we need to grow up by competing fairly.
It is my hope that we shall go to the polls, choose the person we want as our next president, elect our parliamentarians and continue living as one people. Peace is very important and we all should aspire to let it reign.
The GhOne News for social justice
I have noticed that since it started presenting news a couple of months ago, GhOne TV has used its news programmes and airtime to seek public support to victims of social injustice in some of the stories they cover.
One of such advocacies yielded fruit yesterday, well almost, when a human rights lawyer Francis Xavier Sosu appeared on TV to confirm that he had taken up the case to seek justice from the state for the victim in question.
A ten year old girl was shot by a stray police bullet, according to the news report, during a shootout with armed robbers. She was subsequently rendered in capacitated and has been recuperating. Effectively she was abandoned by the police and her poor parents have been trying to keep her going with payment of medical bills and all. Her dad said in the story that the incidence has rendered him broke and he couldn’t continue doing it anymore.
Since airing the story a couple of weeks ago, GhOne has been doing all they can including appealing to the police, social workers, health professionals, human rights lawyers and calling on the public to help to ensure that the young girl is taken care of and her case is investigated.
That was how the lawyer came on the news on Wednesday to announce that he had taken up the case and was going to sue the state in court and demand reliefs of up to GH¢1,000,000 to be paid to her. It is a step in the right direction.
GhOne TV has been incessant in their pursuit of this case. The news presenters, Nana Aba Anamoah especially from the beginning and then Kemini Nyamani Amanor also got on with her News Brief at 11:30am to keep it burning.
This is just one of many cases that GhOne has taken on with such seriousness, but this and other two sticks out for me. The others are the teacher who was sacked and his salary suspended when he went blind and the issue of the Accra psychiatric hospital’s recent challenges.
They managed, for example, to get an attention back on the psychiatric hospital and mobilised celebrities to donate towards the purchase of drugs and upkeep of the inmates. It seems there will be some response in the case of the teacher as well. They obviously need to be commended for this social actions.
My challenge however is how the news presenters, in this case Nana Aba and Kemini can’t keep their opinions to themselves when presenting such news. It is indeed heart wrenching to present such news, but I think they need to know when they are presenting a news programme from when they are editorialiSing. That aside, GhOne TV and the news team need to be commended for this social actions.