“It is up to us to change our community
by holding ourselves accountable, and the politicians we elect accountable,
to making a positive difference in all our communities...Get involved. Stop
blaming others…”
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-- Sam
Sanchez, commentary aired on WAMU-FM, Washington, D.C. and quoted in Feb 15,
1995, The Washington Spectator.
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Tsooo-boeeeiiiiii!
Tso-tso-tsoo-boeeeeeei and the
crowed resonated with a deafening thunderous response: Yeeeeeiiiiiiii!! Don’t mistake this chants and responses to be
those of the famous Asafo groups of
yesteryear. They are the usual exciting and vibrating humming, thumping of feet
and shouting by a huge multitude of party fanatics at a mammoth political
rally.
Yes
the season is here again and the atmosphere is already charged, as we gradually
inch towards the December 7 Polls.
The
various political parties are at it again. Those who have gone numb after the
2008 general elections are trying very hard to rejuvenate their political image
and ignite the spark of life into their political voices, as they feverishly
rehearse their notes in anticipation of improving upon their fortunes of wining
the upcoming elections.
With barely five months to the polls, it is
obvious that various political parties including the incumbent National Democratic
Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Convention Peoples Party
(CPP), the Peoples National Convention (PNC) and the newly formed Progressive
Peoples Party (PPP) are vigorously positioning themselves and frantically
employing all workable marketing techniques to sell their flag bearers and
their political ideologies to the electorates. Some have already launched or
are about launching their political campaigns albeit some auspicious media
publicity.
As elections have become competitive and rare
opportunities by which societies elect new leaders to form and serve in
governments. Election periods are moments of charged emotions and agitated
egos. They are moments when people who hitherto were living in complete
obscurity suddenly assume patrician mentality and dazzle people with oratory
skills that can only be likened to spirit possessed entities.
Season of promise galore
Granted
that elections are
inevitable in any democratic dispensation and that it is obviously a contest of
ideas, politicians with the aim of winning and governing the country would go
every length to win the elections.
The Politician who suddenly becomes pro-poor and
palpably concerned for citizen’s welfare with well-oiled tongues and gifted
oratory would roam the entire length and breathe of our dear country, spewing
sugar-coated words to convince the electorates.
During this time, they seem to know almost all
routes leading to every nook and cranny of the country as they crisscross in
their four-wheel drives to every hamlet, cottage, village and town in the name
of canvassing for votes. Some even code name the tours: “listening tour,
door-to-door campaigning, or restoring hope tour” among others.
Often time, such meetings are opportunities used
to persuade and depending on which party is visiting, either renew previous
promises or make new ones to the electorates.
Promises of zero tolerance for corruption,
improvement in general conditions of the people, running transparent and
accountable governments, prudent management of the economy, as well as creation
of jobs for the teeming unemployed youth in the country could be heard. It is
this promise here and assurance there, irrespective of whether or not they are
realistic and achievable or even within our reach as a people.
Interestingly, as these apostles' of power may
appear, there seems to be a calculated medium which tend to goad them on
without rest until the end where they are declared winners or
losers. However, an interesting aspect of the game is symbolized in the
way promises are made to bait uninitiated electorates, majority of them
innocent and struggling with the challenges of life, to vote them into power.
Modus
operandi
At mini rallies or ‘gargantuan’ durbars, these
politicians are mostly intoxicated and charmed by their teeming supporters and
sympathizers and like the proverbial Pentecostal episode two millennium ago,
the politicians are emboldened by their inordinate desire for power to act in
theatrical manner, sometimes to their own surprise, they act in strange manners
and say words that they are unaware of its impact, but which are intended to
capture the hearts and minds of the electorate. Yes, with much gusto they flow
with the “big words” with such effortless effrontery. The promises flow and
float on the wings of the thunderous cheers of the crowds.
Now hear them in their quixotic best.
They begin to ask the audience about their
living conditions- which government did this or that when they were in power,
and the usual ear-splitting response booms thunderously. Can you do this, can
you afford that?
At this stage the spirit possession process is
complete and the political chanting of promises begins.
This is what I will do when you vote for me… And
do not be surprised to hear them promise they would provide all the niceties of
life on their assumption of power. Listen to some of them, “I will build roads,
very affordable houses for all, provide free education, electricity, water and
oh reduce fuel prices”. As the crowd is bombarded with such promises don’t ever
forget to hear this last point (to borrow a popular quote from Kwesi Pratt) For
the teeming unemployed youth, “I will provide thousands”, and depending on the
mood of the crowd, increase it to even millions of jobs for the “mobrowa’s” on
the platform.
I just wonder if they even stop a bit to listen
to themselves. It is high time people started taking them on, on some of
these promises.
They use all the
time to market themselves and sometimes make statements that projects them
above their opponents. Sometimes untrue
statements feature and false claims cum accusations are made on those same
platforms, which are supposed to be used to market themselves as well as endear
themselves to the electorate.
In this regard the
idea behind political campaigning is just a means of conveying the alternative
approaches of arriving at the same destination. Here, propaganda, and other
political gimmicks and spin are used to achieve the goal of convincing the
electorates to vote for a candidate. The question, which reels on, is how
honest these promises are and how can we hold them by their words?
Without really
asking questions as to how the politicians are going to achieve the promises
they make, the discerning Ghanaian voter, who sometimes receives these messages
with a pinch of salt, realizes how important they are during such peak
political seasons.
Examining promises
So long as politicians remain human and continue to use persuasive
language to convince the electorate to vote in their favour, means there ought
to be a way of holding them accountable to the words.
Most of them renege on the promises they made in their quest to win
political power only to get into office and not deliver. They sometimes
dilly-dally with the situation and mostly play the comparison game to score
cheap political points the electorate ought to know why the promises were not
met.
As the Ghanaian electorate becomes enlightened, we must all
endeavour to scrutinise some of these promises. We need to ask prudent questions
in relation to how these promises would be met, how they intend to bring in
lasting solutions.
To ensure a better scrutiny, I would like to suggest to political
parties interested in governing Ghana to supply copies of their manifestos to
Civil Society Organisations, the Electoral Commission, the Institute of
Economic Affairs and the National Commission for Civic Education, as well as
make copies available to the general public to assess. They should also post
these campaign promises on a functional website that could be accessible to the
general public.
Ghana’s vision
With the general belief that every political party has the
interest of Ghana’s development at heart, and with the spirit of ensuring
continuity of development programmes in the country, I believe developing and
enacting a Ghana National Vision Plan, based on which political parties would
draw their manifestoes and programmes for the country would be very helpful.
The vision should establish certain key areas of focus to Ghana’s
development and help the country make projections in the areas of health,
education, transportation, economy, agriculture, service industry, sustainable
development, trade and industry, oil and mineral wealth extraction and the
service industry, to mention but few in say the next 50 years.
This plan should help the country determine a national approach to
addressing every aspect of our programme so that irrespective of the political
party in office, the national programme and not necessarily political party
manifestoes should be implemented. The Vision plan should be able to forecast
the amount of loans or credit facilities that would be needed to reach our goal
in the next fifty years and measure the progress being made.
Conclusion
Inasmuch as political promises cannot be curtailed in our
political discourse, the electorate must listen carefully and seek information
on the programme each political party has for the general good of Ghana before
voting.
Although you may vote alone, always vote on principles and for parties
with good programmes to ensure the development of the country.
By Kwesi Yirenkyi Boateng
Email: kybem11@yahoo.com
