A potpourri of unproductive cynicism in the land
It seems some of my friends have firmly adopted and, yes, even patented the cynical posture in our public affairs. Nothing impresses them. They have switched off completely from their own country.
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But this rancid attitude is completely indefensible, and indeed, highly suspect. Love of nation, love of community and love for humankind generally should have dictated a different and positive approach to public affairs by some of us. On Wednesday, November 19, 2014, as I was writing this piece, we had in this very paper, on page 23, a very fine piece on the beginnings of the dramatic transformations in the media landscape in this country, courtesy the 1992 constitution, and the courageous efforts of Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby, written by no less a person than the President of this country, John Dramani Mahama.
Readers will also recall that the 2015 budget was, also read the same day by the Finance Minister, Seth Terkper. The budget was, in my opinion, in spite of the acknowledged difficulties which have made it necessary for the government to approach the International Monetary Fund for assistance, a remarkable testament to the resilience of our economy. We necessarily must have hope that all the available resources can be marshalled for the completion of the numerous development projects outlined by Mr Terkper. It is the bounden duty of all citizens to have positive hope, and not to retail the depressing tales of hopelessness and lethargy. The outlined projects are for the people of this country.
Tarzan’s path-breaking efforts
Dr Wereko-Brobby earned the nickname ‘’Tarzan’’ 20 something years ago from his path-breaking efforts to give all of us a media landscape we can be proud of. Of course, I took part in the Radio Eye demonstration a month later in December 1994 to demand the return of the seized equipment of the bold enterprise by Tarzan. We were, indeed, a small crowd of about 50 people marching through the streets of Accra that day. I remember distinctly the presence of Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe, and then plain John Agyekum Kufuor, who was forced to join a cab I had hired at the precincts of Osu Cemetery to escape the counter - demonstration we run into when we reached the Military Cemetery on our way to Parliament to present the usual petition.
That Tarzan had been able to invite nearly all the protagonists to take part in the 20th anniversary celebration of this auspicious occasion in our democracy should fill and warm the hearts of all true patriots. Tarzan was then a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). He is now a suspended member of the NPP for speaking the truth about the unsuccessful election petition mounted last year by his party challenging the election of President Mahama. Kofi Totobi-Quakyi, the then Minister of Information, is now an elder comrade in his beloved National Democratic Congress (NDC). President Mahama, in 1994, was three years away from entering Parliament on the ticket of the NDC as the Member for Bole, from which seat 12 years later, he was elevated to the vice presidency and later, to the presidency itself.
Kumepreko demonstration
We should recall that the Radio Eye demonstration was a precursor to the “Kumepreko” demonstrations the following year, 1995. It provided the basis for the popular outpourings of today by the AFAGs now.
If this is not a remarkable and noteworthy progress in our democracy at both the institutional and personal levels, I do not know what is progress. We achieved all this peacefully, and through the agency of constitutional rule. Tarzan took the legal and constitutional matters involved in his initiative to court, as he was entitled to by the extant laws of the land. Cynicism about this country is misplaced, and it is not an option.
When was the last time a sitting Head of State found it expedient to write anything in a Ghanaian newspaper? This is practically a scoop by this paper, firming its reputation as the leading newspaper in the country. But that our President did so in praise and defence of media pluralism is further evidence of how far we have come since January 7, 1993, when the Fourth Republic was inaugurated.
Drug arrests
But perhaps, the cynicism I am condemning in this way in the land is typified by the very loud politicking and sloganeering surrounding the arrest in faraway London of a Ghanaian national holding an Austrian passport last week. Some of us have vowed to use this event to mount a spirited campaign of political equalisation in the national fight to contain the drug menace in society. Scoring political points seems to us more important than assisting in speech and action to bring this wicked trade under control.
This is cynicism completely run amok. It seems we have conveniently forgotten that in the similar case of the former NPP MP, Eric Amoateng, we all heard clearly his colleague at the time, Mr PC Appiah-Ofori, praying for the arrested MP to belong to the then opposition NDC. The facts belied his prayer. Here we are now with the fruitless politics of cynicism ready to claim more victims in the mad rush to score points of dubious political utility. Let us by all means celebrate the plurality of expression that the courage of Tarzan and others have bequeathed to our country, but let us never forget that cynical irresponsibility justifies the tyranny of the past, and demeans and degrades the freedoms we enjoy today.