By:Prince Owusu-Yeboah
Published: July 30, 2009 10:59 PM CDT
I write in response to Etse Sikanku’s article with the above title which was posted on myjoyonline.com.
First of all, I will like to emphatically say that I am in TOTAL DISAGREEMENT with you on the matter of Ghana, and for the most part of Africa in general! I think that over and over again, people fail to appreciate how far Ghana, and Africa in general, has come. As a matter of fact, i believe that in the history of mankind it is unprecedented in the manner that after being dominated and raped of our resources, human and natural, we should find ourselves, in such a short time of “so-called” independence, in the right direction towards democracy and potential prosperity! That is a miracle and tremendous improvement for a people!
If you want to begin talks about how far we have come, then please compare the status of the developed countries to where they were after 50+ years of their independence.
Take the United States of America for example; do you recall what was happening there around the years 1820s and 1830s? I am sure you know pretty well, so won’t bother to get explicit on that matter! If you judge it from that standpoint then i will begin to appreciate your assertions and pronouncements better!
Another point that i want to emphasize is that, democracy and capitalism is something that has been forced on us, and i believe we are doing a very good job at that. Considering that we come from traditions of chieftaincies and autocratic rule. I think our people are holding up very well! Your thoughts on tribalistic leanings are off base, because if you look at the political parties in Ghana today, you have representation of all the tribes! Now whether there will be changes to the voting patterns as per locations (i.e. Volta and North voting NDC, as compared to Ashanti and Eastern voting NPP), i believe strongly that it is also changing. For example, if you look at the voter numbers for the presidential elections 2008 in Ashanti, you will see that there was a high increase and support for the NDC, of which there has never been.
The conclusion therefore is that people are beginning to look at issues in voting, rather on sentiments. The NPP complained low voter turnout of their supporters in the first round of voting in the 2008 elections. Well, that basically tells me that democracy is working; in the sense that, supporters discontent with ruling parties are protesting by not going to the polls, period. Democracy is working and we are doing it! We need to congratulate ourselves for it and maintain the process and progress.
I think we need to encourage that, and stop comparing what has been a dark past in African politics with civil strife and senseless violence. Ghana as an example for the rest of Africa will go a long way to stabilising the continent. I agree with you that, when Ghana had its first successful coup d’état, the rest of Africa braced itself with other successful coups in their respective countries. Perhaps the time has come when the other African countries will emulate what’s happening in Ghana and try to be a symbol of hope for their people.
We are not quite there yet, but, Ghana is working, so let’s start pinpointing on the positives and the achievements. We will one day wake up to see a very prosperous and poverty-free Africa.
THE FUTURE IS FOR AFRICA!
we are doing well with democracy...i can appreciate your views on this ,even though i may not entirely agree with you. only for the same reason that you assert that democracy and capitalism has been forced on us.
ReplyDeleteagain if we want to begin talks on how far Ghana has come, comparing the status of Ghana 50yrs ago to other developed countries may not even be a good measure, my views are largely based on Walter Rodney's book "how europe under developed africa". we cant afford to forget the exploitation and pillaging of our resources for the entrenchment of capitalism and the development of the West.
Thanks Nii, even though we can't ignore the role played by western interests i totally agree with you that a good starting point will be to address the more immediate issue of corruption and rent seeking that exists so pervasively in the Ghanaian society. Let's control and address what we can now while trying to deal with the more remote issues later.
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