The apprehension about the possibility of radio stations perceived to be antagonistic to the ruling party having their signals jammed on Election Day has joined the social media shutdown threat to create a disturbing political ambience.
The foregone have been fueled by an alleged acquisition of more sophisticated gadgets by the regulatory authority and other state agencies to deny Ghanaians the right to their fundamental freedoms.
In the past few days, the subject has engaged the minds of persons who have chronicled our democratic journey to where we have reached today.
While some think government would not stoop so low as to open the country for international ridicule by doing so, there are many who believe that given the experience of the last polls, such a possibility should not be ruled out.
For us, however, it is important to note that we have come a long way in the aforementioned journey that to jam radio signals on Election Day or shut down social media would be a recession we would be better off not contemplating, let alone implementing.
We must progress beyond this notch where breaches of democracy should be allowed. There must be a cessation to such frivolities yet abrasive breaches of democracy.
Democracy is not only expensive it thrives on the prevalence of certain principles: the breach of which can spoil the broth.
We are either democratic or not. The holding of elections itself is a critical attribute of democracy; such polls themselves underpinned by the sincere prevalence of a freedom of expression.
There can be no excuse for jamming radio signals or even shutting down social media: those who think otherwise and even expend public funds to import gadgets to make such wild thoughts possible must rethink their proposals.
The world is watching us. We would have no business touting ourselves as a beacon of democracy if those at the helm cannot contain the fallouts from practicing this form of government.
Our political leadership must begin to allow the people to decide whether a government be allowed to hold on to power or to exit at the end of four years.
Governments which have nothing to hide should not find scuttling the electoral process a necessary option which must be undertaken with all the money at their disposal.
The recurrence over the years of such preference by governments, when elections are due, is a pointer to the fact that we still have a long way to go in our democratic journey.
We long for the time when the tension associated with this period in our political calendar is pushed to the backburner reserved for history students as they study the story of the political development of their country.
There must be closure to such crude tactics by persons who are voted into power to change the lot of their people and to add to the political pedigree of the country but fail to do so.
For the first time in the history of polls management, an Electoral Commission Chairperson has openly turned to God for his intervention in a pending general election.
Her decision is perhaps informed by the tension and visible mistrust between the Commission and the security agencies on one hand and the main opposition party on the other.
It is good to pray for divine intervention in every human enterprise but such intercession must be hinged upon sincerity and the readiness to apply the rules of the game and to allow radio stations to operate without hindrance on Election Day.
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