Africanews
Promises of vicious elections and violence seems to be evident after the few political violence unleashed on some people recently. A trouble free election is not foreseen with the kind of political campaigns going on. |
As sound trucks roam the streets and posters accost pedestrians with gleaming images of eager candidates, Ghana looks set for a political showdown later in the year.Both the presidential and parliamentary elections have been slated for December 7. However, political violence that has been unleashed on some people recently has created fear and panic among the public.
In most social gatherings, bars, stadiums, funerals and even in the media, concern has been expressed on whether Ghana could have a smooth election without violence this year. The general concern is that nothing should be done to plunge Ghana into a Liberia, Somalia or to any unstable condition.
The two top candidates in the elections are President Jerry Rawlings and Mr John Agyekum Kufour, a lawyer, who is on the ticket of the largest opposition party in the country. Dr. Edward Mahama, who is the third candidate in the presidential race, is not likely to fare well in the race because of his small constituency.
A number of people are worried by the implied threat that Ghana stands on the brink of civil strife and that if the elections are not properly handled, there will be trouble in the country.
The last elections which were held in 1992 were not so vicious as this year promises. Although there was violence like the burning of a businessman alive and bomb blasts after the elections, the effusions by the politicians this year, have been a source of worry to all.
On one hand, people feel that if the ruling party does not win, its supporters will become incensed so much that they will take to the streets and violence will erupt in view of their background as revolutionaries with hard-line approach to things.
On the other hand, there is also this feeling that if the opposition does not emerge victorious, they will not take kindly to the situation where president Rawlings, who has already been Head of State for 15 years, would have another four-year term. "The crucial issue of this year's election is that no one is taking chances at all," says Mr Oko Mensah, a political analyst. "People are concerned with the conduct of the elections. We have had a history of rigging, vote-buying and impersonations in this country. It happened during the last elections which Rawlings won." "Although, it will be unrealistic to expect a completely perfect, trouble-free elections in this respect, all we demand is that the elections must be managed properly," he says.
The religious community has called for prayers to ensure a peaceful election whilst a lot of Ghanaians have expressed the need for reconciliation to avoid any unfortunate incident in the run-up to and after the election.
In line with this, regional task forces on the election have been formed to give direction to political parties and both the Electoral Commission and the National Commission for Civic Education have devised slots which are used in the media to inform the electorate about the need for political tolerance. Do Ghanaians feel secure and assured of a trouble-free election in view of these provisions? Mr Naana Ampomah, a student, does not think so. She still believes that "with such hardened postures being exhibited by the government and the opposition, calls for reconciliation will remain a mirage".
An eminent economist, Mr Kwame Pianim, has declared that "Ghana is sitting on a time bomb of ethnic, religious, generational and gender tensions".
According to him, "all that is required in the midst of the teeming army of hungry and angry unemployed youth is some political miscalculation or an irresponsible electioneering rhetoric to ignite these simmering tensions into fratricidal strife".
The perception of peace and stability in Ghana needs to be made real, deepened and entrenched for the good of all of us, he says.
Concern for peace overtures have heightened following recent effusions by the political leaders and their party functionaries. The other day, an ex- President, Dr. Hilla Limann, was reported to have stated that if his party, the People's National Convention whose flagbearer is Dr. Mahama, does not win the election, Ghana would be turned into a Liberia.
Mr Limann has since denied that, declaring that he only said, "Ghana needs peaceful change and if the authorities resisted peaceful change by rigging the polls, then there was the possibility of violence like what happened in Togo, Sierra Leone and Liberia".
Whilst President Rawlings and his party functionaries see the opposition as unfit to rule and have even called them "rats", the opposition on the other hand see president Rawlings and his people as a bunch of riff-raffs and economic vampires who have milked the country dry.
Name-calling is the order of the day and the recent whipping up of religious and tribal sentiments against the opposition by president Rawlings' men, has put Muslims against the opposition.
They have stood on various platforms to denounce the opposition who they claim are anti-Muslim, very arrogant and lack direction in whatever they do.
The opposition have also not fared any better - they have resorted to the use of the sordid past of the government to remind Ghanaians of the atrocities meted out to them by the Rawlings regime.
Mr Sam Anokye, an accountant, decries the present trading of accusations and says politics has served as a divisive force in the country.
Dr. Emmanuel Evans-Anfom, a former Chairman of the West African Examinations Council also thinks likewise. "We are in a state of what may be called divisive confrontation". "Ingredients of a recipe for disaster exists in this country today and politicians should be more demonstrative in their advocacy for reconciliation in order to preserve peace and stability," he warned.
Recently, President Rawlings advised political parties to urge their supporters not to intimidate supporters of other parties.
It is expected that president Rawlings would show a deep commitment to this by first stopping his party functionaries who have often been accused of notoriety so that the opposition would take a cue from such a stance.
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