Wanted: A Government for all Ghanaians
This piece should not have been necessary but for the sad past experiences and the unfortunate agitations and actions that have marked the New Patriotic Party (NPP) victory.
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No party in Ghana has enough supporters to win an election. In every election, victory is decided by the dedicated supporters of the winning party, votes of those with either no party or weak party affiliation plus the votes of people who are dissatisfied with their own party or those who loved the winning party’s campaign message. The party primaries elect party leaders but the national elections choose leaders over the whole country, not just over the winning party.
Aftermath of election
Sorry to have belaboured this obvious fact. However, in the aftermath of the election, the actions of both party supporters and even the winning party do not reflect the intentions of the election, to choose a government over the whole country.
In the days after the victory of the NPP, party supporters have been reported to be forcibly locking up doors of certain offices and ‘sacking’ staff of some government agencies. One remembers too well the same incidents in the aftermath of the 2008 Election when party supporters took over the management of public toilets because ‘your government has lost and it is now our time.’ That it happened in 2008 does not make it right for it to be repeated in 2016. Wrong is wrong and should not be tolerated with unjustifiable reasons. There are a number of such areas in which wrongs were committed in the past and where pre-emptive action needs to be taken to avoid recurrence.
National resources such as public toilets and national agencies such as the National Health Insurance Scheme, the Ghana Youth Employment Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA) etc. belong to the whole country and are not party property. So Ghanaians, no matter their party affiliation, should have equal opportunity to work there or manage them. If it is true that the locking of some offices has started, I hope the right corrective action will be taken to make such offices open to all Ghanaians.
Another area of possible retribution is handing over of state property. It is reported that the Invincible Forces forcibly took over toll booths because they heard National Democratic Congress (NDC) activists were looting state resources. If it is true that people are wrongfully taking home state property, the solution is not mob action to prevent or retrieve it.
2017 should not be payback time. If there is the risk of government property being wrongfully taken, the security agencies, not party activists, should act and they should act in accordance with the provisions of the law.
Partisanship
From 2009 onwards, there were many cases of youth demonstrating against government appointees because they awarded contracts to non-party affiliates. It was reported by the press that one minister justified the award of huge contracts to an individual because the person had contributed a certain sum to the party’s campaign chest. How party-funded projects are awarded should concern only party members. How contracts that would be paid for from national resources, resources that belong to all Ghanaians, are awarded is an issue of interest to all Ghanaians. And no Ghanaian should be denied contracts on the basis of the party they belong to. In many instances in the past, it was reported that some big contracts were awarded to party gurus who did not have the capacity, technical ability and equipment to execute them. Such contractors either did very shoddy jobs or turned around and sub-contracted them, sometimes to genuine contractors who were not party members. The result was either inflated costs of projects or the final amount that was given the executing contractor was so insufficient to do quality work.
Ministers and chief executives were removed allegedly because party activists did not like them, and sometimes the appointees removed were very popular with the citizens in general. Party activists can be a minority in a district or region. The ministers and chief executives are leaders of the region and districts, ???and the electorate voted to cede their authority to the president and not the president and the party activists???. The interest of party activists should not override the collective interest of citizens.
Security actions
Under the NPP administration from 2001, the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) acted in a manner that was condemned by even level-headed people within the party. Mr Tsatsu Tsikata was arrested during church service while Mr Victor Selormey was arrested at the airport on his return from a trip abroad. Victor Selormey’s trial brought out a lot of interesting information, but could he not have been arrested after he had gone home? He had returned to Ghana, remember, he was not leaving the country. Mr Asamoah Boateng and his wife were arrested under the NDC at the airport by the same BNI. Many of the arrests or invitations by the same security agency in the run-up to elections received mass condemnation. The BNI needs to be seen to be professional and neutral. It needs to improve its public image. It is a necessary institution now more seen as a nuisance institution.
Ghanaians voted for change, and they hope to see a break from the past.