As we prepare to take stock of the year 2013 and wish for a better 2014, we need to thank God for His abundant grace and mercies. At least our country has been spared the natural disasters and civil conflicts that have bedeviled other countries on the continent and beyond.
Ghana has escaped natural disasters such as Typhoon Haiyan which struck the Philippines in November with devastating consequences in human and material losses.
Civil conflicts and terrorist attacks that have made life unbearable for people in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Nigeria, Central African Republic, DR Congo and lately South Sudan are but distant stories so far as we here are concerned.
If we have failed to improve upon the quality of our life, it is not because nature has not been fair to us. It is simply because we lack that quality leadership and a responsive citizenry that can build a healthy and prosperous nation.
The year that is fading into history opened on a very traumatic note for the country when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) made a formal protest against the results of the presidential election of the previous year by filing a petition at the Supreme Court.
The Election Petition, as it became known, put the nation on edge. Several scenarios were played and the consequences of none gave us hope. What happens if the NDC, having tasted the sweetness of power, loses the case? What about the NPP which is so sure of the solidity of its case?
While all these debates were raging in rancorous tones, all manner of peacemakers and soothsayers emerged on the political landscape. Religious leaders (known and unknown), chiefs, civil society organisations and countless other voices were all calling for restraint.
When judgement was finally delivered on August 29, everybody was deflated. The victors could not celebrate because there was nothing to be celebrated. The losers could not express their anguish in any violent manner. Maybe they took consolation in the widely held opinion that justice is not always found in the law courts and so let bygones be bygones and the country marched on even though badly bruised and polarised right in the centre.
We have survived but let us not fool ourselves. We cannot be always lucky. It is, therefore, very crucial that we strengthen our electoral system to remove all bottlenecks and loopholes to as close to perfection as possible so that our fate does not remain in the hands of ordinary humans who are always susceptible to all sorts of weaknesses.
Whether we, as a nation, have made any progress or not will be left to public debate. Suffice it to say that those in government have found it convenient to cite the election petition which unnecessarily dragged on for almost eight months for their inability to deliver on some of their promises. We have to give them the benefit of the doubt. The new year will prove them right or wrong.
Why we have still not been able to marshal the abundant resources at our disposal and taken advantage of the relative stability prevailing to develop as a country is still an enigma. The expectation that democracy and stable government will do the trick is fading away and being replaced by cynicism.
This is a dangerous trend to several unpleasant reactions because if a people lose hope in their leadership, in their state institutions, in fact, their country as a whole, normal life becomes meaningless and desperation can set in.
That was how countries such as Somalia, DR Congo and lately Egypt, South Sudan and Central African Republic were created. We need to prevent that from happening in our country. Verbal exhortations and vain promises cannot solve the problem. We need action.
May 2014 restore our hope in our country; may it bring us closer to our personal and collective aspirations.
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