Well, who would have thought? Firstly, that the 7th December elections wouldn't result in a clear winner, but more surprisingly secondly, that the 28th December elections wouldn't result in a winner! Surely the 2nd January elections in the Tain constituency ought to give us a new president of Ghana, right? After all they say third time's a charm.
And by the looks of it, it will be third time lucky for Atta Mills as well, after all it will take more than the extraordinary for my dear party to turn things around now. Then again, I think we're beginning to realise that the 2008 Ghana elections are all about surprises...
11 comments:
hi Maya,
My only prayer is that members in your dear party would rise to put Ghana first!!
thankfully i've seen signs of that from some sound npp folks and i'm encouraged...i'm almost tempted to feel patriotic but for my basic instincts to free my spirit beyond artificial borders!
This is definitely not npp or ndc time...THIS IS GHANA TIME!
and i hope we realise it!!
Hi Maya,
I think 3rd time lucky for Prof. Atta Mills may be in the offing but as you rightly pointed out, it is not quite over yet.
Novisi, you are so right; alot of NPP supporters I have spoken to are thinking of the wider picture of a united "Ghana" beyond party. My only hope is the same can be said for the die-hard NDC supporters I heard on Radio Gold on Monday promising fire, brimestone and chaos lest Mr. Afari-Gyan declares anyone other than Prof. Atta Mills president.
God Bless Ghana!
hi there Abena.
did i just lost my balance...i hope not!
you right! the ndc 'unless death' folks must show respect...
after all even the bible says there is time for everything...
Same goes for the non-aligned and the ghana first folks...
as for radio gold...and i dare make a diversion...i hope folks stop calling for it's closure...we need freedom of speech...it heals too...
and let no one call for the closure of Oman FM where the likes of Frances Asiam and the owner himself issue threats and insults like water...it all heals...a little peep at the other side reveals this clearly...
so let us have freedom of speech while only encouraging that folks be decorous...that must not be forced...
i mean it was on radio gold; while all the other stations went music records for the 'fear' of hurting some party that i head the sound voice of SOMEONE LIKE KSM who called for the right thing to be done! This is somebody who COMMANDS respect across party lines!
i can only hope that more of the peace song singers step out to speak now more than ever! and let all of us be bold.....and i'm not sure to what extent i'm ready to stick out my head beyond this virtual page)...but let us just be!
cheers and happy new year Maya!
I'm not an NDC fan, but i'll be happy if they win for the simple reason that the opposition would have won an election and transitioned smoothly into power in africa. that's a big deal, and says "we're moving forward" in democracy.
Hi Esi,
in as much as i'm a fun of 'positive' CHANGE everyday (not ndc- there's some difference) i believe your 'simple reason' is too low a standard to clap for Africa even amidst all the chaos and power drunkenness!
it is definitely such low standard setting for npp in the year 2000 that has contributed to their 'Nana's "only-I-know-the-law" delayed' downfall.
what we need to do is to keep putting our politicians on their toes...let's keep calling for change once our politicians are clearly acting against our 'common' interest!
if we don't do that we lose the moral battle with libido!
we must rise above mediocrity being served to us like the way the npp screamed the capitation grant like it was really grand!
Africa and it's citizens must come to accept that no more should we allow greedy folks and fakes to hijack our leadership...WE MUST CHECKMATE THEM BY EVERY MOVE!
GHANA and Africa for that matter could easily become a better democracy than fakes like George Bush of America...
I pray for more libido!
Wow, so nice to see the commenting going on even in my blogging absence!
Novisi, happy new year to you too! Let's hope for a wonderful 2009 for all Ghanaians!
Abena,
I agree very much with you. Most NPP supporters at this point want nothing more than peace and stability, meaning we'll be happy for Akufo-Addo to concede. It is only sad that part of the reason for this is the constant threat of violence if the NDC does not win.
I see what you're saying Esi, the world is watching and Africa is hoping that at least one country can take the lead and continuously hand over peacefully. We've shown them it can be done from a fomrer military regime to a civil one, now let's do the same from one civil regime to another!
Hi Maya,
Welcome back! Alas, I have more comments.
Novisi: I am in no way advocating for the closure of Radio Gold. Freedom of expression is vital in any democracy as long as it does not impinge on the human rights (and personal safety) of others.
Unfortunately, I missed Kennedy Agyapong and Frances Assiam issuing threats and insults like water on Oman FM. I have only listened to Oman FM in the early evening and they seemed surprisingly non-partisan but it was only a couple of times that I tuned in.
I'm curious; do you think Radio Gold will be transformed from an "Enemy of the State" to a "Mouth-piece for the State" in the new President Atta-Mills dispensation?
Esi: I totally agree with you that an NDC win is good for the African democratic process as a whole. Prof. Ali Mazrui made the point during a talk he gave in Accra in 2007. He said that the true test of the robustness of any African democracy would be for an incumbent government to either:
a. Give way to an opposition party that was previously incumbent
b. Give to an 3rd party
We appear to have proved that our democracy is indeed robust. However, the constant threat of violence, voting irregularities and ethnic politicking are really preventing me from truly appreciating the fact that we have matured as a democracy.
Anyway, Happy New Year to all of you!
Maya, welcome back and enjoy the comments!
Abena, i hope i did not create the wrong impression. i did not mean to say you were advocating for the closure of Radio Gold. Not at all. Apologies!!!
i've heard and continue to hear all sorts of people calling for such and i just wanted to make my opinion known on that kind of issue. it was a DIVERSION!!!
i admit that it was your mention of radio gold that triggered my reaction in that direction BUT NOTE THAT I STATED CLEARLY THAT I WAS DOING A DIVERSION! and that is just why i brought the Oman FM parallel just to make sure my call for freedom of speech is the FOCUS!
and do note again that my call is for SPEECH (and all forms of expressions of WORDS including insults) BUT not the total expressions of man and woman, bearing in mind that stretching my hand to slap a fellow man is an expression enough but definitely one that is dangerous and violates human rights and i stand against such!
that is how far my crazy head stretches...just that!
meanwhile, i'm not sure about the radio gold transformation you refer to. interesting! i've not heard that one...that radio gold is labeled "enemy of the state". hahaaha!
but well, personally i'm reluctant to label them as such bearing in mind the complexities we face EVEN as a democratic state! our institutions/security agencies are not reliable enough to play for the state instead of the greed of individual politicians! yet, the people must be assured of security! admittedly it's a very tricky situation!
so i don't see radio gold as "enemy of the state"! if i look at what has been done by radio gold during this 2008 elections, i'd rather lean towards seeing them as a friend of the state! because i believe every citizen is supposed to play a part in state security! but of course i wait to see whether their take as they claim was really for the state and really did NOT JUST coincide with some political party's calls!
TRANSFORMATION OF RADIO GOLD:
As for the transformation of radio gold to "Mouth-piece for the State" under Mills; i believe every radio station should aim a good portion of airtime in that direction!
most importantly it is GBC we should put pressure on to ensure they are the "Mouth-piece for the State" because that is where our tax goes! as for the private guys it's always optional and we listeners may judge (also optional) for consistency and so on!
so my take on your curiosity is that let us just let radio gold decide for themselves! i'd be listening as much as i can.
on the other hand (and this is just a wild one that just came to mind) if government resources are spent on radio gold in any bad dreaming head of a government official to achieve such transformation then that would be thievery and STUPID! (see why i love freedom of SPEECH?) and i would descend on the head of Mills the old man with sharpness and fire!
--
PS.
as i stated earlier in reaction to Esi's comment i humbly believe with all humility (hahahaha!) that we must set higher standards for our democracy instead of comparing ourselves to the rest of Africa and retiring to bed after that!
Democracy in Africa so far is nothing to write home about! at least not my little mud-house home...hahahahaha...in as much as i appreciate Esi's point!
Let us compare ourselves to the greatest heights achievable by man and woman and not to EVEN obama, let alone Bush the bush!
i'm saying that it's not enough to just transfer power from incumbent to opposition! after all this is the second we are about to have in Ghana anyway! and it wouldn't matter if it has never occurred before even on the whole of earth! assuming so!
that would only be noted in the history books and may give some folks excitement and orgasmic feelings...but beyond that what???
i'd rather we look at implementing (and not just passing laws) checks and balances in the system to ensure that at the end of the day the citizens get the most out of their EMPLOYEES cast in the form of presidents or judges or parliamentarians or whatever! because human beings are not angels! we are good, bad and both told by time and space!
And on top of it all, we must demand RESPECT from our leaders while ensuring that our leaders don't demand same from us but work to earn it!
it would not be worth it ENOUGH if we achieve changing government but do not push for adherence to the rule of law and good governance but end up with corruption in MASSIVE measure!
let us push our leaders to higher heights so that they stop thinking about serving us with mediocre!
So Prof. Ali Mazrui should give us better! I dare say his 'test' is mediocre EVEN amidst all the turbulence on the African continent!!! that kind of test could easily lend itself to tokens instead of the real stuff!
I want the folks in Somalia to have a government for the people by the people and of the people just us i want those in Afghanistan to have same and it must all be with checks and balances and more! i pray for these for every human!
i'm getting ready for the next four years and beyond with air, water, wind and fire!
Maya, pardon my flooding your blog!
love to y'all!
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