HOW THE ILLS OF THE CULTURE OF SILENCE ECHO TODAY

For over two weeks since I heard a playback of a lecture delivered by veteran journalist Cameron Duodo about Prof. Albert Adu Boahene and his bravery at inspiring Ghana's march towards democracy and media freedom, I have been on a quest to find exactly what the academic said in full.

I have asked friends on social media -Twitter and Facebook but nothing substantial has emerged. Google popped anecdotal texts about the man and his famous terror shattering speech. The closest I've read was a tribute by Cameron Duodo for the London based Guardian newspaper.

A few weeks ago, a friend sent me a link to a speech with the title 'Freedom of Speech and the Culture of Silence' days after asking for Prof. Adu Boahene's speech. My first instinct was one of joy, thinking it was what I was looking for. However, it was a speech delivered by the learned Prof. H. Kwesi Prempeh, a speaker at the Prof. Boahene's lectures.

Both Cameron Duodo and Prof. Prempeh made some incredible statements about Prof. Boahene's life and activities-first as a renowned academic and later a politician. Like many other stories shared, they were selective references of his famous speech delivered at the British Council Hall, Accra in 1988 at the Danquah Memorial Lectures titled 'The Ghanaian Sphinx: Reflections on the Contemporary History of Ghana-1972-1987'

What made Prof. Adu Boahene's 'The Culture of Silence' speech, was that, it was the first time a Ghanaian have spoken harshly about a military regime which was governing Ghana at that time. The PNDC had usurped the administration of Hilla Limann on 31st December, 1981 and had been on a victimization spree, arresting everybody suspected of being against the revolution.

Ghana was under siege and the paranoid Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings led PNDC government had plunged Ghana into political and economic chaos. Food shortages, collapsing businesses, political victimization, stifled media and speech among other ill features of dictatorship was evident.

So, for someone like Adu Boahene, a history professor at University of Ghana to proceed on a 'we shall not sit for this nonsense to continue' coherent ‘rant’ shocked many present. I'm sure many feared he might be a dead man or be arrested and harassed by the PNDC regime. None of that happened. Instead, the PNDC picked the nuggets shared by the academic and step the country in motion towards democracy with the 1992 Presidential and Parliamentary elections as the climax of the process.

Prof. Boahene became the Presidential candidate of the opposition NPP and faced off with the transmogrified military junta to a democratic party, PNDC with JJ Rawlings, head of the junta as the lead candidate. NPP lost the elections. They disputed the results, boycotted parliament and wrote their epochal 'Stolen Verdict' book.

As my search found nothing substantial a la the full speech of Adu Boahene, it dawned on me how my generation has been robbed of that epic speech thanks to the obnoxious Culture of Silence he spoke about. At that time, there was no real private media as it exist today. The press at that time -Daily Graphic, Ghanaian Times and GBC were under the control or thumb of the junta and took instructions on what to publish. They had no right to publish anything that offend the PNDC junta. Likewise GBC which could not broadcast the speech or make reference to it.

Tommy Thompson and his Free Press (private media at that time) were under constant attacks and perhaps publish snippets of the speech. And that is all we have now. Tales of the event, second hand stories of the epic and riveting nature of the speech is what is handed us interested in knowing exactly what Prof. Adu Boahene said either the full text or audio recordings.

Adu Boahene stood and spoke bravery against an evil that was eating into the psyche of the Ghanaian at the right time. Perhaps Ghana would have become a democracy without the speech anyway. What that speech did was to hasten the democratic march. Today, Ghana is viewed as a bastion of everything good about democracy within Africa. And we must be grateful to Prof. Adu Boahene.

PS: Please readers, if you come across the speech of Adu Boahene, kindly share with me, either on Twitter (@swayekidd) or Facebook (swaye Kidd) or mail (rahim.munir4@gmail.com).

Maybe Kweku Baako should be my last resort of contact.

RE: BLAME THE OPPOSITION

It was during my study of Historiography (one of the most difficult courses I’ve ever taken) that I got exposed to some of the tools politicians employ to advance and exonerate themselves of any blame, any blemish in their efforts to remain ‘holy’ and ‘white as snow’.

One of these tools is Blaming the Opposition party for all things going wrong. And since the Greeks modified and codified the practice of modern politics, this tool has remained a ‘sacred’ arsenal for justification of political (in) actions.

Last week, my friend Ekow Ata-Aidoo (@ekowmaisse) chose to share on his blog an article with the above heading (read full text here http://wp.me/p54CZc-V   ). 

The man was frustrated by the excessive finger pointing by the government and her appendages at the former government’s (NPP) mismanagement of the economy especially the energy sector as the reason for the seemingly unending energy crisis blighting the prosperity the prosperity of Ghana.

courtesy Infoboxx 

My article is to bring to his attention that blaming your political opponents is an art in realpolitik. It is a tool to score political points. It is a tool used to bamboozle the many who are ignorant, unthinking and blinded by political affiliation to go to town with the mantra of their government. 

Every party which comes to power will draw on this card to advance, justify its incompetence. This strategy is aptly captured by George Orwell in his famous novel Animal Farm, where Napoleon kept blaming Snowball for the destruction of the windmill.

The current energy crisis-dumsor- is having grave effect on every aspect of national life. I’m sure the economic figures from the Ghana Statistical Service, the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and other agencies tracking the economic performance of Ghana will have a lot to say on the correlation between dumsor and economic growth of Ghana.

Though the government tells us initiatives are in place to ameliorate this suffocating and annoying situation, it is interesting to note the perspectives of some energy experts that an increase in generation capacity and generating the power are mutually exclusive.

Ekow, my good friend, stop stressing. Don’t let your blood boil. Just relax. The blame game won’t fly out of the window within your lifetime.  In African or Ghanaian politics, owning up to mediocrity or failure is not in our DNA. Owning up is a political suicide. No right thinking party will ever want to do that. Why should the balance sheet of a party have more negatives than positives? Apuut)!!!

Heaping blame on the opposition by the ruling party for a ruling government’s incompetence is designed for politicians to use and in Africa or Ghana; it could save a party from losing all credibility in the eyes of voters. It wins sympathy, makes your opponents appear untrusting, uncaring and incompetent in the eyes of the nation and the world.

It is a tool worth having and carrying (no matter the weight) everyday, everywhere. It is the greatest and most valuable piece of art in the politicians’ briefcase.

Long live the concept and practice of political blame game. May it never, never, never die!!

PS. Did I read that our president, the communication expert really pointing to the number of mobile phone users as one of the reason for this energy crisis? I don’t want to believe. I think he was misquoted. The president, who was the deputy Communication Minister and under whose watch the nation’s communication journey came to maturity saying this? Hey, the gods must be crazy!

WHAT A ‘WOW’ FROM DELEGATES

I envy political party delegates especially when the political cycle is in motion. They are the royals who decide on whose head the crown finally rest. They are the elders, the king makers, the wise men of the party (s). And like elders, wise men and king makers, they act with tact, in a paternalistic fashion.

Political Party Congresses are also their ‘cocoa season’- a political season in which they get ‘rewarded and appreciated’ in style for their work. Some say these delegates get bribed, induced, influenced and persuaded via monetary and other tangible ‘rewards’ by candidates in an effort to win their ‘hearts and minds’ so they vote for them. Usually, it is said that, the highest bidder gets lucky and sweeps the votes. We have seen the opposite happen as well.

It is for this reason that I have considered becoming a delegate when I grow up.

And so it came to pass, without much surprise that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Executive Delegates on Sunday, overwhelming voted for the favourite candidate, Nana Akuffo-Addo at their Super Delegates Congress.

 

Nana Akuffo- Addo

The results are as follows: Nana Akuffo-Addo (81.78%), Alan Kyeremanten (7.98%), Francis Addai Nimo (2.98%), Joe Ghartey (2.98%), Osei Ameyaw (2.17%), Asamoah Boateng (1.76%), Kofi Konadu Apraku (1.35%)

The Super Delegates Congress had about 740 delegates voting to choose five (5) candidates out of the seven (7) to vie for the Presidential Candidate slot for 2016 National Elections in October 2014.

The declared results has evoked debate among two schools of thought. One group argues that, based on the results from the Super Delegates Congress, Nana Akuffo-Addo should be declared the presidential candidate by acclamation. For them, the National Congress in October is a waste of resources.

Others hold the view that the NPP Constitutional provision must be followed. This means, there should be a National Congress come October. Side stepping the provision will be against the letter and spirit of their own constitution.

However, there could always be an exception. It is up to the Council of Elders of the party to choose the right approach.

DELEGATES AND THEIR ‘WOW’ SWAG

One thing that I find puzzling is when defeated candidates go about complaining about the deceptive nature of delegates. I’m often surprised that after all these years of practicing democracy in Ghana; candidates fail to note the ways and means of delegates.

These candidates, on their nationwide visits, will be brimming with confidence telling us they have the delegates in their pockets. That, all these delegates have assured them of their unflinching support. That they would vote for them en masse.

These promises by the delegates most often doesn’t come to pass, leaving the delegates blood eyed. This deception is something I find interesting in the sense that they believe these delegates when history shows delegates can’t be wholly trusted.

 

Alan Kyeremanten

I heard Nana Ohene Ntow, spokesperson for Alan Kyeremanten on Citi FM, expressing his ‘surprise’ at the results although delegates had assured his boss of their support and votes.

‘I am a bit surprised at the result we have received… because the indication that most of the delegates gave is completely different from the results that we are getting’, Nana Ohene Ntow stated.

HMMM!!!

POLITICAL FUTURE OF ALAN K

Should the NPP settle on the option of foregoing the National Delegates’ Conference and acclaim Nana Akuffo-Addo as their presidential candidate come October (which I doubt will happen), then Alan Kyeremanten, would have only one thing to hope or wish for: That Nana should lose the 2016 General Elections.

The presidential aspiration of Alan K hangs largely on the outcome of the 2016 Elections in that a loss for NPP in 2016 would mean another chance for him to take a shot at the flagbeareship slot of the largest political opponent of the incumbent National Democratic Party (NDC).

He would stand as the overwhelming favourite. A well known face. A very marketable candidate.

But, should Nana Addo win the 2016 Elections, Alan K would have to reconsider his options. Nana Addo will have a 4 year mandate which will end in 2020. He stands another chance to be elected afterwards. By the end of his 8 year tenure as president, Nana would be 80 years old.

Should Nana Addo choose not to contest after 2020, then the likely candidate may be his Vice President, who may have another eight (8) years as the president (if these assumptions are to hold). Even if Nana Addo serves his full term, his Veep may take a shot at the presidential slot. 

Should the Veep win, then Alan has to wait some more years for his chance.

This means that the next time Alan will have a chance to compete for the position of a flagbearership position; he may be about 77 years. This won’t augur well for him as his ambitions would have evaporated.

CONCLUSION

The NPP have cracks within their ranks which they have to fix quickly. The Akyem – Ashanti divide is real, though many will pretend it’s fictitious; a figment of an opponent’s imagination.

That division has been identified as a growing tumor within the party that must be cured. Dr. Arthur Kennedy in his (in) famous book Chasing The Elephant into the Bush highlighted as a big challenge. Other political analysts have come to the same conclusion.

It is said that a party in opposition, with a chance or hope to win power must stand in unity. Their house should be one of peace and stability. But as my good friend Ekow Atta-Aidoo remarked, if the NPP continue with this nonsense (in-house bickering, suspicion and camps), then he doesn’t see them winning in 2016.

He is not the only one who shares such an opinion.