DYING TO BECOME A POLITICIAN - WORTH OR MESS

A few days ago, my mum asked what I would want to do with a Political Science major after my graduation next year. As if I had rehearsed the answer, I told her I would probably want to fight my way into Law School and become a lawyer. Apart from the pride- infested pleasure about her first son hoping to join the learned profession, I realized that the old lady heaved a sigh of relief. I'm sure she thanked whatever she believes in that I had given up on the whole dream of wanting to become a politician. Then I realized that, each time I had mentioned that dream to the family, it had either embraced mixed feelings or hopes that “my brains would start working someday”. In fact, the only relative who encourages me is a distant cousin of mine; but take it as a mischievous joke, his response would usually be: “Masa! Hurry up and come and give me contracts so we go share the money”. So in the midst of these whole aged talk of politicians and how corrupt they are, It only gives one reasons to wonder; “Is it what really a section of Ghanaians desire whenever their relative decide to enter into politics” ? “What do people even think when they decide to become politicians”? “What is it about politics that several supposedly decent people express their indifferences about”? “Why would people even perceive politicians as nation wreckers”? “Why would people actually think that politics always sets nations apart and ruin healthy relationships between blood brothers or close friends”? For me, these are very confrontational questions which beg for answers every day in the minds of nation lovers and several forward thinking Ghanaians.

Ordinarily, I won't pretend to have answers to those mind-boggling questions, however, let me set the tone for a kind of analyses that bothers on our political culture vis-à-vis the conduct of politicians particularly in Ghana. Quite recently, I've had to respond to an argument of whether born again Christians should enter into politics. As if politics is anti-Christ, several politicians in Ghana have fast gained notoriety for their involvement in fetishism, blatant lies, insults, curses, tribalism, reckless abuse of office, disrespect for the elderly, intellectual dishonesty, selfishness and unpatriotic tendencies. I dare say that the ordinary serial caller, the aggressive foot soldier, the loyal party journalist, the party communicator, the deputy minister and his boss, the opposition leader and his party, present and past senior state official, the president, his Vice and their friends and family have all in one way or the other, contributed to this new syllabus of politics in Ghana; even the so called student politician is not spared, perhaps I fall victim. What a country? The only fortunate thing is that we still haven't lost the essence of politics because several Ghanaians reckon that this country needs the politician as much as a woman needs her husband. “I'm sure the female gender activists would fight me on this choice of simile” but the truth is, every morning, 24million Ghanaians and over wake up hoping that they would meet an improvement in their hardworking lives as well as an optimum level of welfare in their education, security, transportation and health system with better food security and income to meet their needs. I'm sure it's the reason every 7th December; we go to the polls to elect our politicians. What happens next is what I'm about to tell you.

The morning after the president has been sworn in, a section of his political party starts planning over which positions they would be given after sacrificing in the December elections, they start making calls to influential party officials, preparing their C.Vs and telling their family members to prepare for a jolly good time. By then, the opposition party must have organized about 7 press conferences on how indecent the president dressed to the swearing in ceremony and how he fumbled and embarrassed Ghana. The weeks after, you would hear party communicators issuing threats about how former government officials would be jailed for raping the country of its resources. Lo and behold another press conference comes in warning the government to fix the problems of the country and stop nagging. Eventually when the new government supposedly starts fixing things, the opposition party either criticizes the government for being slow or stealing their policies and programs. Does it make sense to you? Week after week, you hear very nauseating things on radio; either government officials justifying their actions and inactions or opposition members casting silly aspersions on the president. Here, both the political neophyte and the most experienced opposition politician would have some unkind message to the government and its allies or vice versa. Sometimes even their families are not spared. Before you say jack there's another election and the result is that no matter how hard the government of the day had worked, our institutions are half developed, our problems are half solved or worsened, government promises are half fulfilled, there is even more blame game, radio arguments and exchange of insults. All the three arms of government would boast of paper work without practical results. Worse of all, somebody would be accused of stealing so much money belonging to the state. This is the real politics I've grown to meet in this country, where the government in power would have to do everything possible to maintain the sweet power in spite of the detractions or the leader of the opposition when frustrated would have to intentionally infuse some tribal emotions or literally call for violence when they have no idea of what violence is. Funny enough, every party has a media outlet or journalists to propagate their messages coupled with unnecessary argumentation, unproductive confrontations, unpatriotic selfish disagreement and much long talk without any action. Simply put, there is a pitiful lack of progressive consensus in our body politic whilst the politician sits comfortably in the centre.

I'm not done boring you if I don't talk about the zero-sum nature of our politics because it's saddening to say the least, that a onetime beautiful nation-state with diversified cultural heritage and espirt d'ecore has been sub - categorized under an atavism of political parties and their syncretism of ideologies. Instead of a healthy collaboration to allocate the public goods authoritatively, we are witnessing an acrimonious competition where bare truths are clad with party colours and national interest sacrificed on the altar of party fortunes in the next election. This has pervaded so deeply into our national fabric that even the young is not spared. Whilst the West and East have an agenda for this country, it is shameful that we can't agree on a national agenda. Continuity has been replaced with weakness so long as governance in this country is concerned. This has left all our national institutions in a sorry state and everyday what the politician cares about is making flimsy excuses, playing blame games or telling gargantuan lies with impunity. Why would people then see politics as a healthy venture to encourage their wards to ply? I'm quite knowledgeable about the various perspectives of politics and I'm not sure of how clean I would be at the taste power but I think it's about time we ceased impregnating ourselves with the thought that clean politics through which we can develop our country to our taste and embark on huge policy initiatives to change our fortunes is utopian. For me, it's about attitude and will; most importantly, that of our politicians. Several young people and I would want to witness a renaissance in which there is positive attitude towards development that is focused on a national agenda, where politicians would stay away from outright lies and serve their people genuinely, where politicians would not take monies that do not belong to them, where there is an unbridled proclivity to satisfy national interest foremost. Indeed, where the Ghanaian politician would not call for violence but activate our national struggle through peaceful co-existence, continuity and consensus building irrespective of the party in power. I envisage a country where Ghanaians would work hard in the plenty of opportunities and wake up every morning knowing that they can trust their politicians and comply with them in realizing our national hopes and dreams. That is true service to nation and true politics – The politicians we should all become.

REPLY LETTER FROM FOOTSOLDIER TO KSM

 #fiction.

A reply to a published letter in the news by Ghana's ace satirist Kwaku Sintim Misa to an imaginary foot soldier of a political party.

Theme: Call for peace in the 2012 elections.

THE ACTIVIST, THE ACTIVISM OF ALUTA CONTINUA - MY REFLECTIONS

I have been nowhere; and trust me if I tell you so. I grew up in a setting where newspaper was for the few who

gained the opportunity to work in one government office or the other or in a few instances, retired teachers; (pensioners) as they were called who had extra cash to spare on the luxury of knowing what’s in the news. But as a young and ambitious student, I have always known that the news mattered. News like “which foreign government official visited the country”, “which part of Accra have

suffered flooding”, “the latest increment in fuel”, “what was new in Makola, and others were but a few one could watch out for on GTV news bulletin. 

Hardly did it matter to me nor my friends the news of students going on demonstration as a result of insensitive increment in their school fees, a group of students meeting somewhere to elect their leaders or a group of student leaders pressing on government to meet one demand or the other. In fact, the last thing I might want to care about is a group of students dictating how they think government policies should have been put in place to salvage one national canker or the other.

However, what did I grow up to hear? That there was some action called student activism, and that there was a group in the name of a National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) under whose umbrella all Ghanaian students have a place so to have our interest well catered for in the national discourse. My ignorance was complicated when an older friend told me stories about how NUGS played key roles during the dark days in Ghana when our actions as a country so long as governance and politics were concerned, were dictated by men in uniforms through the barrel of guns. Indeed, I was told of how ordinary students of this country rose up to protest against those oppressive regimes and their obnoxious policies; several of whom lost their lives through stampede and gun fires during those wild demonstrations. I’m also told of stories of hell breaking loose on campuses of Universities as students rose up to defend their so called social rights some of which and other related incidents have led to universities being closed down.

Eventually I have come to familiarize myself with the acronym NUGS and a few names that have been associated with it. I fell in love with Haruna Iddrisu those days when as a young boy, I started sharpening my interest in the news of the day where in the morning; my ears were either stuck to Joy news or anywhere else I could hear the voice of one politician or the

other. Then later I heard bigger names like Ward Brew, Arthur Kobina Kennedy and a few others I cannot exactly recall. Perhaps what must have helped more was my association with a few friends through whom I was introduced briefly to the activities of the Greater Accra Regional SRC. Perhaps, there was more I could have learnt about student activism except that I was in a hurry to get out of Secondary school merely because I felt I had fallen victim to the new Computerised School Selection and Placement Program when my dream of Achimota School ended on rocks. I attended a very small community secondary school in Accra anyways; memories of which I hold dearly.

Honestly, the starting point for me was the university. That was when I came to hear more of NUGS and this new lexicon of STUDENT ACTIVISM, a definition I have been looking for. One of the latest definitions of student activism I have come to learn from a senior colleague is “when students know their rights and limits and can ask why or why not if needs be”. I have grown to love my university, and even though I think that KNUST is one of the finest universities we have around Africa, I doubt how much this language of student activism is understood by students of the university, most especially the fraction that takes unflinching interest in the

politics of the day. I must confess how thrilled I get by the boisterous confrontations and agitations of my good friends from Conti and almighty Katanga sometimes, but the question is: Are those scenes good enough to be called student activism especially when male halls have had a long standing history with the formation of NUGS. I’m not sure how much the history of NUGS has been told, hence I ask ignorantly: What is the essence of NUGS? When there is no credible voice to speak for the Ghanaian student or when they virtually know nothing about it. What is student activism when we cannot solve the basic challenges that confront our student front? What is student activism if we cannot organize just one decent election on our campus? What is student activism when we are being denied the space to confront authorities over our needs? What is student activism if we cannot contribute meaningfully to the national debate regarding policies that could break the neck of the next generation of Ghanaian students? What is student activism if the gullies of our rights are gradually being washed away by the colourful lather of gushing party waters and individual selfish interest? I know not what others think; but in my ignorant opinion, until we approach the beckoning recognition of the fact that at the heart of student activism should be a much more responsible NATIONAL UNION OF GHANA STUDENTS (NUGS), then though I’m just a kid, the question I pose for reflection is “what is student activism”? And “who is the activist”?

JEREMIAH JOHN RAWLINGS - THE ANATOMY OF A POLITICAL ENIGMA

The persona Jerry Rawlings remains a foreboding enigma – a politician of mystery, full of melancholy, contrasts and paradoxes. The exact definitions were ascribed to Africa by B.N. Ayitey in the introductory chapters of his book, “Africa Betrayed”. Like the title of that book, I'm sure some elements within our body politic would want to paint a similar picture of betrayal between Jerry Rawlings and his beloved N.D.C. Well, we can leave that episode for later, what attracts the nib of my pen now, is the foggy political character of the retired flight lieutenant born to Madam Victoria Agbotui and the Scottish Chemist on the 22nd July, 1947.

Mischievous as it may seem, history has a way of knocking certain characters into our heads to the extent that denying those means denying our heads. Whoever tells the political history of Ghana and denies Chairman Rawlings of his place has denied the relevance of his story. I'm told that on 15th May 1979, he and a group of junior officers in the Ghana Air Force attempted a mutiny against the regime of Fred Akuffowhich resulted in their arrest and imprisonment. However, Rawlings shot to fame with the June 4th 1979 coup that ousted the Supreme Military Council and introduced the AFRC which he led as Chairman. Since then, the fair faced gentleman kept stealing the show in the concert of Ghanaian politics. He's had his high points; the days when he was likened to Jesus, the days when he was the most handsome man in Ghana, the days when octogenarians died of heart attack at the sight of him, the days when J.J was on the lips of toddlers, and mothers; with dangling breasts would ran to catch a glimpse of the man of the moment. Indeed, my fondest memory of him was in 1997 when as a kid in my hometown, our first public health centre was being inaugurated. Though my little cousin was the one chosen to present the bouquet of flowers to the president, as was the culture at the time, I was happy that I was made to stand somewhere I could possibly take a good view of the man. Trust me, “I saw the man”. He beamed with so much energy and charisma that infested me with pride to have him as President. I'm not sure of now, but I can't deny that I ever admired the man.

A few years down the line, as Africa kept faith with multi- party democracy, the grandeur surrounding the personality of Papa J was still pervasive in any public account of the Ghanaian political trajectory. He is a man ever loved by Ghana; and most dearly, by the political party brought forth under his midwifery, the NDC. I've never seen a founder whose qualities were ever flaunted in people's faces than the NDC did to Rawlings. More so, he has been the salt of their electioneering campaigns over the years. I'm sure there were times when my friends in the Danquah Busia fraternity wished their ideological pacesetters had stayed alive a bit longer. History somersaults; today, Rawlings has become a fever in the blood. In recent times, discussions have been held to quantify how much relevance he still has, left in Ghanaian politics. As the pundits keep throwing their opinions in our faces, the vapour in my head and that of several other Ghanaians keeps condensing too many questions especially about the means and ways of the man, J.J Rawlings. I' m left with no other description of him than to call him a mystery. He acts in ways we don't understand. Even Jesus' parables most of the time were explained. Let's try to research him in the following expose.

First and foremost, the coup of 31stDecember 1981 is one that has often generated controversy in the market place of historical analyses of events in our politics. There are many who think that Rawlings' second coup was needless and as a matter of fact based on his own reflexes. Perhaps it was meant to merely demonstrate the machismo of the coup maker in him. People tend to find more justice in the 1979 coup because the AFRC, under the chairmanship of Rawlings, carried out a much wider "house-cleaning exercise" aimed at purging the armed forces and society at large of corruption and graft as well as restoring a sense of moral responsibility and accountability in public life to the pride of many Ghanaians. Rawlings was even disciplined enough to follow a program already set in motion before the June 4 uprising, to organize free general elections hence handing over power to a civilian government led by the People's National Party (PNP), under President Hilla Limann on 24th September, 1979. Now though it's admitted that a few things went wrong under the Limann regime, I think that toppling a civilian government after two years of handing over power to him was an expression of Rawlings' own personal disagreement with himself the beginning of his foreboding enigma. No wonder, the likes of Boakye Gyan have made comments purporting to register that the 1981 coup was a betrayal of the principles that guided the 1979 coup.

Subsequently, life under the PNDC and later NDC on whose banner the guiding principles of probity, accountability and social justice was indelibly imprinted, supposedly hasn't been the pleasure of many Ghanaians. Like every life under a military leader, the PNDC regime recorded a litany of social injustices and repugnant suppression of civil liberties. Rawlings cannot claim to have lived his utopian dream of creating a much better and socially equal life for all Ghanaians under his military dictatorship and subsequent civilian rule. There were rots under PNDC and NDC, the wrath of several Ghanaians were incurred, there was no piety in public life; at least the secretaries under PNDC have not claimed so. Today, the fight of corruption in public life is still on and though it's not my place to judge whether the Rawlings' principle of probity and accountability has been a fiasco or not, I can say with all the emphasis I command that the verdict is unpleasant and sometimes indicting on the personality of Rawlings. More especially, the allegations of corruption and wanton misuse of the public purse leveled against this current government is a contrast to the principles ever espoused by the sole founder on whose vision and ideals the NDC was formed - The blood and soul of Jerry Rawlings in a contrast. Now, let's see what has happened in recent times.

Today in Ghana, history is being recorded; the only living founder of a political party in government might face an expulsion from the party in whose constitution his visions and ideals has been reiterated in ink. Whoever said that the bath blood between Jerry Rawlings and the NDC might get to this crescendo, could have suffered under the paralysis of the NDC's curse. Well, we all know where it started. The protég of Rawlings, whom he declared as his beloved successor at the famous Swedru declaration came under the wildest of attacks after he took over as President of this country. There is no need repeating some of the earlier descriptions, but trust me, the late Prof. Mills and his appointees suffered in the hands of the man believed to be his mentor and founder of the party he was leading. It was that bad that when tempers flared; the founder and coup scholar was reduced to a mere “barking dog”. Even the babies in government had some unkind words for him because Rawlings became a bullet in the flesh of almost everybody in the NDC except his wife and Kofi Adams. The next dramatic angle was when Rawlings contested the sitting president for the flagbearership position of the party through the mischief of his wife. The events of recent times have left the Rawlings even more vulnerable. More prominently is the birth of a new baby whose paternity he might not have to deny. The National Democratic Party, believed to be a bi-product of the incessant displeasure registered by the Rawlings cult within the NDC, as some have suggested, is meant to annihilate the NDC into total damnation. My head aches at the thought of how a man plots to destroy his 20 year old son by giving birth or adopting a new crippled son. Oh yes, let the facts be told, the NDP is crippled at birth and history would tell us why. There has been a betrayal in the NDC, and it's a mystery to think that the Rawlings has betrayed the NDC – The remnants or deterioration of his own principles.

So as we go into the election in a few months time, A few questions keep begging for answers: How relevant would the Rawlings factor be in the politics of our time especially within the NDC after the elections? What are the constituent particles of the personality of Rawlings that he keeps bringing us surprises? Is he a man of stern and rigorous commitment to his principles? Rawlings keeps calling people with names nobody ever knew they had, he keeps showing up at rallies he is least expected, he keeps meeting his perceived arch enemies, he keeps showing the NDC the red card yet on another breath believes Mahama has brought some spark of hope to the NDC . Rawlings is a research problem and a phenomenon that can cease your breath today and bring you life tomorrow. His outbursts sometimes can be a scar on the mind. Jerry Rawlings might be extinct someday but until he does, the tumour he leaves on the skin of Ghanaian politics is an enigma that can set the brain on fire My reflections.

RAW THOUGHT...THE FEARS OF OUR GUILT

There's nothing as fearful as living in the fears of your guilt; Many a time life presents us with a staircase - one that's very steep yet very attractive to climb. The kind of steps you would want to take because of the titillating sensory nerves it triggers in your feet. As desirable and sinful as the wold is, we enjoy climbing and climbing; even in the heat of our sweat. At that moment, life becomes as meaningless as pleasure itself...But the truth is that what is that pleasurable may not have a pleasant destination. The Bible calls it "the end thereof". The missing link is always the destination that we never wait a second to think of. Then we arrive, look down and see how far we have climbed, how distant we are from the foot of the staircase. Obviously what sets in is fear; the fainthearted can't help but dazzle in their vertigo. Then you miss your thoughts. Then you realise how foolish you have been - climbing that high  without having to reason how away you were getting from the ground. You satisfied the pleasurable desires of your feet at the detriment of your head and heart. Then you want to jump down because climbing down the staircase has become scary..why? Its that huge crack that struck through the staircase.. The huge crack you failed to pay attention to when you were climbing..Then you feel like shouting for your help but your guilt is not allowing you. You are fearfully guilty, yet you would have to live in the fear of your guilt.. Its simple, it happens all the time: sleeping with your master's wife and fearing being caught by your master, sleeping with too many prostitutes and fearing you now have HIV after being struck down by some chronic illness, recording a sex scene and suspecting that it's been intercepted by your Sunday school teacher, beating your pregnant wife to the point of a miscarriage and risking not having any baby thereafter...These are fears we live in everyday of our lives, yet they are fears we keep getting ourselves into.. Then when we are enveloped by our guilt, we curse the devil, we panic, pretend to know God better just to benefit from his mercies..The fact of the matter is assess your destinations, measure the consequences before you jump unto the pleasures of this world. It doesn't mean you shouldn't take risks.. Life itself is a risk.