Murdering MPs won’t solve
Ghana’s problems
By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor
Tuesday, January 9, 2016
Folks, the political temperature in Ghana is gradually
rising to unacceptable heights and must be condemned by all
well-meaning people, especially if it results in negative
happenings .
The news is that the NPP MP for Abuakwa North (Joseph Boakye
Danquah) has been shot dead by unknown assailants. (See
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Abuakwa-North-MP-shot-dead-414007).
This happening is disturbing, annoying, and problematic. It
causes fear and anxiety. What exactly could have set this MP
up for this dastardly act?
We have all along been sounding the note of caution that the
kind of politics being done in Ghana, and the role of the
MPs themselves, is too dirty and that unless the situation
changes for the better, "anything" could go. And from the
news report, that "anything" is gone. Too frightening!!
Immediate questions arise. What has this MP done to set
himself up for such a painful death at the hands of "unknown
assailants"? Could he have been doing anything as an MP to
step on toes? Whose toes, anyway?
Or could he have been targeted for anything politically
motivated, meaning that his political opponents wished him
dead for working against their interests? What could that
"anything politically motivated" done by him be? And why
snuff out his life this way? He seems to be a young man in
the prime of his life. Oh, what a loss?
To be honest, I haven't heard much about this NPP MP to know
the extent to which he would be targeted on the basis of
political motivation. But who am I?
This incident is terrible and must be condemned by everyone
who values human life. Being an MP is just an opportunity to
serve one's country as such; whether one pleases society or
not in that capacity is another issue. In truth, though,
killing such a person this way is unacceptable.
Could the act be carried out by armed robbers? Or who else?
Enemies within or without? What for, especially when this MP
isn't known as one of those wielding power and influence to
threaten anybody? I am saddened!!
We are concerned that our MPs haven't been performing well,
but killing an MP this way (no matter which political divide
he/she belongs to) is unacceptable.
This kind of murderous activity shouldn't be part of our
Ghanaian collective. it is foreign, strange, and unbecoming.
Folks, we are beginning to see nasty happenings that, I am
afraid, foreshadow the nastiness that awaits the country as
Election 2016 approaches. Oh, why? Politics is about ideas
and not the elimination of those participating in it. Can we
in Ghana ever know this truth to be able to accommodate all
kinds of political persuasions and politicians choosing to
be what they want to be?
The police and other security agencies must act quickly to
arrest the perpetrators of this dastardly act, and the law
must take its course as such so they are dealt with
expeditiously. The problem is that there is nothing
concretely being done about gun production (take the Vane-Avatime
gun industry as an example), gun possession, and gun use in
the country. Our laws aren't working!!
A note of caution: Even though Ghanaians are politically
divided, they don't expect their politicians to be murdered
this way. After all, politics is all about a fruitful
interchange of ideas on nation-building, not the physical
elimination of opponents.
I hope that the truth will emerge for us to know who did
this act. If not, then, serious danger looms. Who goes next?
If, indeed, this incident should be an eye-opener, then, it
serves only one purpose: Our Parliamentarians themselves
have to wake up to the reality that they are not doing well
to enact laws and support other state institutions in
interpreting and enforcing those laws to secure limb and
property. The time for them to respond to the wake-up call
is long overdue.
Building Ghana can be done in an atmosphere of lawfulness,
not lawlessness, which enjoins the MPs to be up and doing.
For far too long, they have been lackadaisical, mindless,
and unsympathetic to the woes of the citizens constantly
suffering from insecurity. Talk about the spate of armed
robbery and wanton criminal acts against innocent civilians
and the absolute silence from our MPs, and you should begin
to know the depth of the problem.
Even, passing the laws on the "Right to Information" is
impossible for these MPs. Yet, they turn round to do
negative partisan politics with whiffs of information that
they stumble upon, provided it will promote their agenda of
political mischief. Eventually, they create needless enemies
for themselves. What do they think they need to know and use
for the narrow politicking that the individual Ghanaian not
doing partisan politics doesn't? Their advantage to
information, the ordinary deprived Ghanaian's woe!!
Will this murder of one of their own now wake them up to
reality for them to act responsibly?
How about the government itself? Will it look over its
shoulders to admit that it hasn't done enough to secure
functionaries of the system? Elsewhere, known and acceptable
political figures are given protection by the state security
apparatus, be they for or against the government.
Here is a gripping aspect. The shooting to death of this MP
is an act of terrorism (for as long as there is a political
purpose involved-—which is a major determinant for anything
qualifiable as terrorism). Will political opponents now use
this incident as a confirmation of their fear that by
bringing in the GITMO ex-detainees the government has opened
the floodgates for hitherto-unknown and condemnable acts of
terrorism to begin in Ghana?
Folks, the killing of a politician this way is foreign to
Ghana, and must be condemned as such. Targeted killing is a
terrible happening. Are we sure we know what to do to secure
limb and property in Ghana? Too much to worry about at this
time, folks!!
The first point is that he shouldn't have been killed. Our
kind of politics is assuming frightening dimensions. If,
indeed, nation-building is anything to go by, it shouldn't
involve acrimony, violence, and this kind of hard-line
stance. After all, Ghanaians won't really care who solves
their existential problems for as long as they can live in
peace, harmony, and measurable comfort.
Ghanaians cannot be trusted when it comes to long-term
memorable and gratitude/appreciation for their politicians.
Ask the late Kutu Acheampong why he dismissed Ghanaians as
“difficult people” and the Great Osagyefo why he would
lament that if he had known that it was milk that Ghanaians
needed (and for which the would support his overthrow), he
would have made the streets of Accra flow with milk. Alas,
it was too late to pick up the pieces.
How many people using the Kotoka International Airport in
Accra, for instance, even care about the effigy of Kotoka
standing there? Do they even have to remember who built the
airport, who rehabilitated it when it was in a shambles, or
whatever will happen to it in future before using it to get
out of the country or enter it? All he cares about is that
the facility that he needs to live his life is available for
use; and he uses it with all the alacrity that he can muster
up.
Sometimes, he even insults the one instrumental in providing
that facility, especially if he happens to be a pensioner or
someone paying tax but not knowing how his tax money is
spent by the government. (Which government in Ghana has ever
informed the tax payer about how the tax deductions are
spent, anyway? Which tax payer ever gets to know how the
income tax deduct ions ate effected? How about the
death-throes that the pensioner goes through before getting
his pittance to send him off into the world beyond?)
For what they are, Ghanaians are Ghanaians. When a Ghanaian
in the rural area goes to use the KVIP facility, for
instance, does he have to remember that it came into being
under the Rawlings administration? No!! He just uses it and
moves on. So is it with other development projects. The
Ghanaian is a chameleon, changing colours to reflect
personal inclinations when and where, and why. For good or
bad, so is it. Politicians who don’t recognize this fact
work themselves into a frenzy and end up woefully. I wonder
if this Abuakwa North NPP MP really read between the lines
as such.
We in Ghana are still stuck on primitive issues about
partisan politics, which our lazy, lousy, and clumsy
self-seeking politicians exploit. That stance comes with a
huge cost, though.
I hope the dastardly murder of this MP will open our eyes to
the reality that has helped our democracies elsewhere grow
to serve the interests of the people. May he begin to rest
in peace, even as we wait for the authorities to unravel the
truth and set our minds at ease.
Despite the challenges facing Ghana, it still remains a
lovely country worth belonging to. Our leaders have to
secure it as such.
I shall return…
• E-mail: mjbokor@yahoo.com
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to continue the conversation.
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