By now, the more discerning Ghanaian should have realised that President Akufo Addo and his Npp are not interested in creating the enabling environment for conducting even a semblance of free and fair election in 2020. Instead, the President and his party are just interested in getting their way by hook or by crook. The President is not interested in deepening the democratic space he inherited, rather he craves to destroy it.
He has no respect for the rule of law and civil liberties and collapsing institutions of state. He and his henchmen are going about all these in a relentlessly ruthless and desperate manner. His actions and behaviour pose a growing risk and danger to our democracy and its sustenance.
The party’s recently held delegates conference and what happened yesterday revealed beyond a shadow of a doubt their fraudulent intention to rig the 2020 election. Every right thinking and discerning Ghanaian should by now see through the elaborate and brazen rigging scheme being concocted by the NPP, Jean Mensah, Bossman and the EC. We must resist it now before it’s too late. If we stay complacent, then we’ll suffer the perils later.
Interrogating the actions of the EC boss and her officials to make sure they conform to the laid down electoral rules and ethics doesn’t mean we are against creation of the new regions. If we fail to interrogate their actions because of our selfish desires and convenience, we will have ourselves to blame for what is to come if they succeed in rigging the main election. This is the time to expose and scatter the foundation of what would amount to the biggest electoral fraud in Ghana’s history.
In his inaugural speech and subsequent speeches President Akufo Addo expressed surprise that John Mahama gave up power easily after the 2016 defeat. Could this surprise be a hint that he will not accept defeat if he loses in 2020. What he did in 2008 after the first round, how he exerted pressure on the court to sit on a holiday to steal the will and mandate of the masses, how he used state power to intimidate various state agencies etc all support that assertion and suspicion. What happened yesterday and reaction emanating from the stables of government confirm our fear that the people we are dealing with are far more ruthless, dangerous and don’t give a hoot about anything other than staying in power and enjoying the perks without working for the good of Ghana.
The President and his party folks are increasingly jittery about the fate that would befall them because they know they cannot win the 2020 election looking at their own performance. What happened yesterday is political malpractice taken too far. I fully support creation of the new regions though I still hold the view that creation of more regions and districts is not the solution to lack of development in some parts of the country. That notwithstanding, we cannot and shouldn’t deny our folks the desire to have their regions. But the fact that we support this wonderful project doesn’t mean we should endorse electoral malpractices. The world is monitoring events here and will position us on the democratic ladder based on how we conduct ourselves.
Yea, I believe that it is really not very difficult to temper with the election process but to do so comprehensively, to sway the results substantially, cannot be done undetected. Precisely because of the patchwork system of separate and independent local jurisdictions. But 2016 election thought me another important lesson. I’m not arousing general public panic or distrust in our electoral process…statements by Ken Agyepong, some Delta Force operatives, behaviour of the EC boss and his deputy (Bossman) fully support my position. Recently I was able to discuss elections in Africa with a Kenyan friend and a tech wizard who knows more about the mechanics of our voting procedures. He sent me a documentary “Hacking Democracy” with its famous expose of our vulnerable voting machines. I pray all folks watch this documentary. Yea, we have personal or individual ambitions and political targets but that desire should not come above our common interest. As we work towards actualizing our individual ambitions, we should also the myriad of such opaque underfunded warrens of deal-making which underpin the system.
Go back and read the charges those so called faceless petitioners levelled against Charlotte Osei, what the Npp said about the woman, the posters they designed to attack her credibility, the filthy stories Otiko and her likes said about the woman. Two years in office with all the agencies under their watch, they have not been able to substantiate even one of the allegations. She was wickedly removed from office after the US Embassy and other respected organizations have conferred awards on her for her outstanding performance. Civil Society Organizations, religious leaders etc quietly watched the execution of that wicked plot by the President, his party and those corrupt EC workers. The President then appointed known NPP activists to take over the EC. Jean Mensah and Bossman. These are people who openly demonstrated their support for the NPP. The current EC boss and her Deputy Boss are very much aware that they will leave with Akufo Addo if he loses the 2020 election so will do everything to help keep him in office.