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It is the people who hand over (End)
In case it is a curse that Ghanaians should continue to remain divided, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo must find a way to break this. The truth is that it is only a united country that can achieve all that we want.
In fact, for some of us, if President Akufo-Addo is not able to build the rail-line from Takoradi to Paga; if he is not able to add one hospital or a kilometre of road anywhere in the country, l would be very pleased if at the end of his tenure, we have a united country that does not see things according to political colouring. That, at his end of his tenure, the country would be so united that there will not be any political retaliation.
Unfortunately, that is not possible because some of the elders in his ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) are speaking languages that do not build, but divide. The same goes for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). It is the way the elders are conducting themselves that is making the younger ones think it is an accepted thing to take the law into your own hands. The Sudanese say, “we desire to bequeath two things to our children; the first one is roots, the other one is wings.” Thus, we may be able to provide all the free education but would not be able to build the required moral fibre in the young ones. So, they cannot have the wings to fly in the way that would build a nation.
Thankfully, President Akufo-Addo has recognised that “wrongdoing has no political colour, and I do not subscribe to the lawlessness of political party supporters simply because their party has been elected into office.” What he needs to do is to talk to the leaders within his party to know how to talk and comport themselves in public. He will then have the moral authority to talk to leaders of the opposition parties to rein in their supporters. This is the only way that President Akufo-Addo’s dream to that, this is the last time such undignified acts occur during our periods of transition.”
I do not want to believe that the young people within the political parties are past the age of being made to behave properly because the Somalis have a proverb that says, “the child you sired hasn’t sired you.” So, the leaders owe the country a duty to make their younger ones learn to behave.
What we have seen so far, rather shows that the young ones are learning from the older generation. They have heard them use words that should not be used against their opponents and are only echoing these, just like how the Tswana proverb says, “the young bird does not crow until it hears the old ones.”
If we do not find a way out of this quagmire fast, we would just continue to destroy the country. In fact, Ghana was not like this. Though there were divisions, they were not as deep-seated as what pertains now. One can blame the lack of continuity in policies to direct the affairs of the state. Past efforts in ensuring the unity of the state have been discarded by leaders who took over from their predecessors. From the days of President Nkrumah, through to Prime Minister Kofi Abrefa Busia, and now President Akufo-Addo, nothing seems to be directed at uniting the country.
We may not like the face of a leader, but his policies, which suit the developmental agenda of the country, should not be thrown out once he leaves office. One man who showed some commitment to unite the country was the late General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, Chairman of the National Redemption Council (NRC).
Unfortunately, what most people remember him for is the “Union Government” that he preached and for those who were against him, General Acheampong wanted to entrench himself in power. Sure, the man might have been seen to be power drunk but, should we only remember him for the bad things?
What we have not praised him for is his foresight to improve the country’s food supply and his zeal in uniting the country. When his success story of “Operation Feed Yourself” is discussed, it is just commented upon lightly. But, this single effort has been one success story in this country. Consequently, we end up not appreciating the fact that he made Ghanaians see that as a people, we are capable of feeding ourselves if we put ourselves to it.
We have also forgotten that it is this man who tried to turn Ghana into a country that we are now struggling to build, many years after his death. Through the Charter of Redemption, General Acheampong tried to unite the country. Every morning, students at all levels were made to recite the various principles of the Charter at school. The First Principle of the Charter talked about One Nation, One People, One Destiny and reminded every Ghanaian of the fact that “the strength of Ghana lies in the Unity of the people.” The Charter enjoined “Ghanaians to come together and tackle the problems of the country as one people,” by its insistence that all citizens must do everything possible to expose and do away with “tribalism, nepotism, corruption and divisive social tendencies which undermine the country’s unity and strength.” If we had continued to preach these ideals, the country would have had less problems to deal with today.
Again, the Charter called for, among other things, a ban on “all groupings which tend to divide the nation” and called on every citizen to do all that was possible to “combat tribal narrowness, inter-tribal insults and nepotism through education in schools, at work places, in the press, radio and television.” We are still facing these problems many years after we threw the copies of the Charter away.
It was also General Acheampong’s wish that “eventually every Ghanaian seeking employment in the public service should be able to speak at least one other local language in addition to his mother language.” If we had followed this over the years, we would not have the tribal problems that we have today and refuse to accept. In fact, he made it a policy to appoint Regional Commissioners who did not come from the regions they headed.
As a visionary, General Acheampong also thought about the inheritance difficulties all over the country and decided that “a uniformed inheritance system for the nation should be evolved to bring about equity and harmony among the people and families.”
In fact, much of what the Charter of Redemption sought to do were replicated in what became Committees for the Defence of the Revolution (CDRS) and Workers Defence Committees (WDCs) under Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings. What should have been done at the time, was to simply acknowledge that the Charter of Redemption had Committees of Revolution from work places through to the district and national levels. We did not, and then allowed the idea to die.
Many years later, we have gone for the National Commission on Civil Education (NCCE) which is trying to do what we failed to do with the guidelines of the Charter of Redemption. It is this round-about approach to development that we have adopted in our national affairs that is not helping the country to grow. We need to look back sometimes to find out what good things existed and then work on them to improve the country.
It is not in the country’s interest if we only look at the wrong side of our leaders. Surely, all the past leaders should not be remembered for their seemingly corrupt practices alone, they definitely had good policies that could be of great benefit!
In fact, for some of us, if President Akufo-Addo is not able to build the rail-line from Takoradi to Paga; if he is not able to add one hospital or a kilometre of road anywhere in the country, l would be very pleased if at the end of his tenure, we have a united country that does not see things according to political colouring. That, at his end of his tenure, the country would be so united that there will not be any political retaliation.
I do not want to believe that the young people within the political parties are past the age of being made to behave properly because the Somalis have a proverb that says, “the child you sired hasn’t sired you.”
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