4
mins (read)
Kwabena
Brako-Powers (Author, Blogger, Life-Enthusiast, Traveler)
I
am careful not to pass judgment on the segment of society we have tagged
‘illiterates’, or ‘uneducated’ Ghanaians. It isn’t that I am being too careful,
but that I am mindful – not to willfully take it that persons who have not made
it to the classroom are uneducated. What strikes me, profoundly, is the way we
assume – without logical bases – the argument that such persons could not make
any meaningful contribution to issues of national development – especially
anemic decisions of the government and stoic stance of President Mahama towards
corruption of its ministers. I have, personally, found these persons to have a
better way of appreciating issues than the so called ‘intellectuals’.
On
Monday, I sat in a white Sprinter bus heading for Accra – quiet unusually –
this one looked different or it appeared different from the usual debates that
engulf buses in the capital. I knew I had found sanity for the first time in
Ghana – where I am free from mind viruses such as corruption of government
officials, or teeming unemployed youths in the country. I snaked my right hand
into my bag to fetch The Mind of the
Strategist – a book written by Kenichi Ohmae to read. As we reached SCC
near Weija, the driver tuned in his radio to a political discussion. A man was
heard defending the government’s decision to accommodate the two Gitmo
ex-detainees in Ghana. He was often interrupted by another person, who was
identified as a communication member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). As the
presenter asked the government communication team member to end his
presentation, a man who was sitting a row in front of me sighed. He later laughed
loud as though cheering his favorite player play his passion out. I almost
heard his throat screamed for help as his voice sounded dry or something like
that.
He
turned to a woman beside her and murmured something in Twi to her. She smiled
and looked aside. Sensing he’s found a partner, the man ventilated his opinion
on the Gitmo two in Twi questioning why government officials failed to conduct
due-diligence on the matter as significant as this. This time, it was loud
enough to arrest our attention. ‘Even
though we’ve not been to classroom before, yet we can tell a liar’, he said
in Twi with his eyes fixed on the woman. The woman led out a loud sigh – the
kind replete with unanswered questions. ‘This
government will kill us. Why is America not accommodating some of the
detainees?’ she asked mixing the Twi and the English in an uncomfortable
manner. She tossed the word ‘detainees’ as though she was scared of pronouncing
the word. It was imperfect, however, those of us in the car got what she meant.
Perhaps not expecting any response. The driver who was then watching the inside
mirror erratically, let out a word or two to cheer them up. The conversation
was educative as more people joined in. All along, my eyes were locked in on
them. Saying nothing, but taking all in as though a baby being fed by the
mother.
As
the bus got to First Light near Accra Academy, I got down and made way home. On
my way, I began to reflect on some of the issues raised by the other
passengers. They didn’t sound political – an unusual news to my ears. They
spoke in a manner that sounded nothing, but patriotic. They had their patriotic
barge on, and dispassionately delivered their points to my itching ears. What motivated our national leadership to
acquiesce to the decision to accommodate ex-detainees of Guantanamo bay here in
Ghana? Why didn’t they conduct due diligence before agreeing? How come some top
security officials of the country were not consulted before the decision was
taken? Is this decision of our leaders in the best interest of our nation or
their selfish interest? These and many other genuine questions beg asking. I
was stunned to notice that these questions were tossed by persons we claimed to
be ‘uneducated’ and ‘illiterate’ in our society. How come the ‘loud’ and
‘know-all’ intellectuals at the helm of affairs of the country didn’t see this
coming? And how come the so called ‘communication experts’ in the ruling
party’s communication team did not predict the bad press a decision of this
kind would generate for the president?
Bad
meals have been served us for many years, and its repetition in our political
life is an indication of the lost power of the ordinary Ghanaian voter or
something like that. We’ve suffered as a people for the bad decisions of our
national governments. Often, instead of soliciting our opinions, they end up
selling to us what they feel and narrowly think. And when we talk back at them,
they call us names – ‘lazy Ghanaians’, ‘ungrateful Ghanaians’, ‘forgetful
Ghanaians’, or ‘weak thinking Ghanaians’. We’re almost always wrong when we
speak up.
As
we march into November, 2016 for the Presidential and Parliamentary Election,
are Ghanaians going to make yet another mistake to end up being labelled all
sort of things? Or are we going to demonstrate, evidently and loud enough, that
the ‘voter ain’t no animal’? We need to do more than demonstrate our willingness
to vote. We need to prepare to vote and this entails being critical with what
these political parties tell us. The voter ain’t no animal in Ghana. Let us be
guided by the needs of future generations in the choice we make for the nation.
God be with us.
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