After months of fierce engagements in the Supreme Court of our land, the moment of truth awaits us all. Suspense can best describe the mood of the nation. Like a soap opera no one seems to know what the next scene holds.
There is a heightened level of anxiety and apprehension over worries of possible violence after the verdict is delivered.
Ghana is at the crossroads and we need to make the right decisions as citizens. The challenge facing Ghana at the moment is a very cagey one which nobody should underestimate.
We don’t seem to know our fate as a nation as to how people would react to the verdict. Whether we like it or not, a verdict would be given and we must be ready for that.
The apprehension of the state points to a certain inertia in the way we have treated matters bordering on the promotion of a culture of peace and nonviolence.
We only talk of peace when there is an impending election or an election-related issue such as what we have on our hands now.
Ghana has failed to make a conscious effort to invest in peace education of its citizenry and have left that solely to civil society organisations as if to say that was not a focal point for us as a nation.
What matters most is that, Ghana would be the winner whichever way the verdict goes,because at the centre of the controversy is who is to govern? Fortunately for us the two main protagonists in focus, John Dramani Mahama and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo are fine gentlemen, who would not by any stretch of imagination like to throw a country they have contributed significantly to build into a war situation.
Current challenge
The current challenge is no longer a choice between who wins and who loses; it is a choice between accepting the verdict peacefully, or nonexistence. In my estimation the Supreme court case presents Ghana with a unique opportunity to consolidate its position as a leader in democratic governance in Africa by respecting whichever way the verdict goes or lose that enviable position and plunge the once referred to oasis of peace into violent conflict.
Ghanaians must come to accept that there is no middle ground in this matter and as such, people should be clear in their minds and speak to this question “where do we go from here, chaos or community”. I am sure that Ghanaians would settle for that latter.
I share in my mentor and civil rights legend, Martin Luther King Jnr.’s, assertion that we must learn to meet the forces of hate with love since love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.
We must come to the realisation that all Ghanaians and indeed humanity are involved in a simple process and for that matter, we are brothers and sisters.
The nine eminent judges of the Supreme Court sitting on the case deserve our praise for a great job done so far. I personally think that the nine judges have really shown great maturity and experience dealing with this novelty of a case and must be commended thus far. The entire country is in their hands now.
Youth Icons Ghana
I am sure that after this situation, we will learn to invest in peace education and not relegate this very important issue of national development into the background.
Peace for us as youth icons remains the biggest investment we need to make as a nation, without which nothing happens anyway, so why do we treat this subject matter like it’s not really important?
I am a certified trainer in nonviolence agitation management and appreciate how just a three-day intensive orientation programme in senior high schools could help prepare our young and future generations on how to agitate without necessarily being violent.
Under my leadership, Youth Icons Ghana, in collaboration with the Centre for Nonviolence and Peace Studies of the University of Rhode Island USA, we have provided training to over 200 youth leaders in the past two years.
Those who sat through this nonviolence agitation management programme would bear ample testimony of how crucial such a programme was to preparing our future generation on peace and nonviolence.
The time is here and now for the security agencies to be at their professional best and position themselves to deal with any challenges that may arise without any political biases.
The posture of the security agencies is crucial to the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling.
Fellow Ghanaians, Dr Martin Luther King, couldn’t have put it much better when he said; “If we assume that life was worth living, if we assume that humans have a right to survive, then we must find an alternative to war”.
By Nana Yaw Osei-Darkwa/Ghana
The writer is Founder/Executive Director, Youth Icons Ghana
