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Coups versus peace time awards
E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Ghanadot
Five more
months in office, and President Kufuor would be out.
Obviously, one of his last acts was to award medals to
many. Tell this to the people of Zimbabwe and elsewhere
where battle lines are drawn over issues of transition.
But
before that, put the award in its immediate context, the
period within which they were given. These have been
exciting times for Ghana – much progress, a super sales man
in the lead, relative peace and no political violence. Credit must be
given to President Kufuor for sharing the honor with so many
recipients.
The above
brings us face to face with the moral hazards that coup
d’état brings; the skepticism that it awakens in the mind
for knee jerk opposition to every gesture of government.
This is the kind of sentiment that sees flawed behavior in
every act of governance, even when the task at hand is to
reward peace loving citizens.
This
moral hazard was put to test when President Kufuor awarded
244 members of the public various medals of excellence for
public service. Opposition to the award was heard within
hours of the announcement of the nominees.
Surprisingly, no one wondered what would have happened if
the same names on the list had been called to show up at
Burma Camp or face a firing squad as happened several times
through the course of our history.
Fortunately this time, the call was for medals; a straight
expression of President Kufuor’s obligation to those deemed
to have served the nation and his administration well.
Obviously, the nominations were made as a right under the
constitution, a right the previous president also exercised
during his time in office.
The list of awards may not have been perfect. And there may
be questions about some who were nominated. Nevertheless it
was non-partisan, considering the constituencies that had to
be served, whether regional, political, religious or tribal.
Therefore, the number of recipients, 244 this year, in a
population base of some 20 million, should not have caused
protest. Medal proliferation alone this year need not
trigger immediate devaluation in the award’s value forever.
The next administration can always apply the brakes to the
number of awards given in subsequent years.
And the
logic that claims, “the fewer the honored the more
pronounced the significance of the honor” can be applied -
until we hit the number zero! But until then, it should be
remembered that the duty of whom to honor would always be the
decision of a sitting president.
This
time, President Kufuor’s chose among the nominated our
illustrious ex-President Rawlings, a serial coup maker, and
his former V.P Atta Mills, now the flag bearer of the NDC.
For reasons of state, President Kufuor said they were
qualified.
But,
Ex-President Rawlings refused the nomination and so did his
former vice, Professor Atta Mills.
So also
did
Minority Leader Alban Bagbin. His reason for the rejection,
though self-effacing and seemingly noble, raised the issue
of whether he would have done the same had the offer come
from a sitting NDC president.
Some who
refused the award thought many of the nominated were “unfit”
for national honors. But it ought to be emphasized that this
claim of “unfitness” came solely from their purview. That
it was President Kufuor’s constitutional prerogative to
honor those he deemed fit.
Also, the
allegation that the $1.5 million expended for the awards was
excessive should be countered. Political cost accountants
ought to tell the nation how much value they placed on the
tens of lives that were lost as a result of the many coups
of the past.
The
social scientist and the humanist may also want to comment
on the institutions wrecked by past coups and their far
significant cost impact on the entire social fabric.
For the
rest of us, the question to ask is medals or bullets?
One would
have thought that Professor Mills, a non coup maker, and an
intellectual would have understood the intention for the
award. The fact that the honor was being extended to his
former boss, a man who has spent the past eight years
lambasting the current administration, and President Kufuor
in particular, should have told him something – that there
was a deeper purpose to the gesture than appeared on the
surface.
And to be
certain, Professor Mills understood the intent. The problem
was he could not restrain himself from the partisan pull.
Plainly,
the award was a gesture at reconciliation. Reconciliation
is a noble exercise, an effort at putting the past behind
you for the good of your country. Kufuor meant well. And
had Rawlings and Mills accepted the awards as intended, the
acceptance alone could have shortened Ghana’s quest for
political maturity.
Nevertheless, the transition is on. But Ghanaians need to
know now whether they have earned the right to expect
retribution or reconciliation from the next government.
E. Ablorh-Odjidja,Publsiher
www.ghanadot.com, Washington, DC, July 21, 2008
Permission to publish: Please feel free to publish or
reproduce, with credits, unedited. If posted at a website,
email a copy of the web page to
publisher@ghanadot.com . Or don't publish at all.
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