Features
The political sprint race about to begin
Sikaman Palava
Elections in Sikaman are often interesting, especially at the primary level. It is at this level that people can vote against you because your face is too bushy.
Others will vote for you because of your American haircut or your Arabic moustache which has been jerry-curled.
A delegate will cast a vote against you simply because he feels you are too fond of eating kokonte at ‘CHOP BETTER’ chop bar. He might not realise that your addiction to kokonte is like an addiction to cocaine and even if you become a head-of-state you cannot resist facing the wall.
At the primaries, you are given the passport to hell. Getting elected can be pretty easy, but given the nod can induce palpitation because it places a huge burden on your head. First, you must start looking for cash. You’ll start estimating the value of the cocoa farm your father left behind when he passed away.
Or will a foreign loan do?
Whatever it is, Ghana politics cannot be ran on an empty back pocket. You must budget for palm wine for the folks who’ll double as your foot-soldiers; organisers of canopies and those who buy you ‘waakye’ and ‘pure-water’. They form the core of your utility staff. They are a necessary evil.
SQUASH
Naturally, some people won’t take palm wine. It doesn’t kick them! To then palm wine is softer than orange squash. So you have to budget for ‘akpeteshie’ better known as ‘kele’. You must apportion money for hot kenkey and plenty of fish, because you’ll be advised that when you give somebody ‘ogoglo’, you better follow it up with food.
Your budget must include funeral donations, outdooring gifts, payment of school fees of people who irritate you, just to get the votes of their parents. When you put pen to paper and add money for courting floating voters and incidentals, you’ll start considering whether it was worth entering the race.
The problem with it is that, once you have entered as an aspiring MP there is no U-turn. You can’t go and tell your constituents that based on your calculations you have decided to chicken out. You just don’t have the cash to finance your campaign so it is better to quit than face disgrace. That will not be.
OPTION
The option available is to seek a money lender and promise him that when you win, you’ll make him the Minister of Finance. And if he is stupid enough to believe it, then you are a goner.
The politicking becomes more interesting when you get to the presidential level. The problem with every politician is that he (or she) has ambitions to become president one day either through providence or by mistake.
So the scramble to the nation’s top post can become quite frantic, because all manner of people keep day-dreaming and fantasising about becoming president although they know somehow that it is impossible.
Getting to the top has nothing to do with fantasy. It takes hard-work to accomplish, aside all the other factors like charisma, financial support, powerful manifestoes and even political gimmicking.
When the Peoples National Convention (PNC) held its congress, I fondly remembered Dr. Limann. He used to carry his campaign message by putting it on the lips of his countrymen. “Any challenger, no challenger! Dr Limann, no challenger.”
His supporters added spice to it: ‘Any challanga, no challanga, Dr. Limann, no challanga!’ Others in his team adopted the Jimmy Carter booster, “Jimmy who? Jimmy Carter!” Some newspapers carried it: “Li who? Limann!” And Limann won to kick start the third republic.
Soon Flt Lt. Jerry Rawlings started eyeing the castle seat with keen interest. He had earlier warned Dr Limann to squat well on the stool and to do some house-cleaning. Dr. Limann agreed but soon forgot all – about the Jerry Rawlings accord, and – before Jack Robinson came to mind, the stool of power was wrestled from under his buttocks.
Today, Limann is no more. May his soul rest in peace. His political legacy is in the palms of Dr. Edward Mahama, a brilliant doctor turned politician. His ‘two sure two direct’ slogan caught on quite well as he appealed to the Zongo communities to rally to the PNC call.
Last Saturday, he became one of the men to have been elected three times to lead the party to the polls. It means his people have confidence in him. With his victory at congress comes the era of Kofi Wayo, the rapping-machine who knows how to blow his own horn, because nobody will blow it for him anyway.
He has brought a hint of American politicking into the game and clinched 185 votes at congress, far less than Dr. Mahama. And he says he was very surprised to get that much. He had thought he would only get about 45. Surely, he’ll be made the flag bearer’s running mate and we can all expect fireworks as usual.
PRESSURE
The overall political temperature is rising gradually. Alliances are being discussed and forged. Those who have won primaries are busy developing high blood pressure. Others have already started having running stomachs. The excitement is rising day after day as the NPP and NDC warm up for the contest of the decade. All the parties have elected their flag bearers.
What Ghanaians are praying for is peace. They value it because it is precious. Politics is a game, not guerilla warfare. While campaigning on platforms, politicians should preach peace alongside their manifestoes.
What brings conflict? It is the tongue. If you mount a platform and start insulting political opponents, certainly that isn’t politics. It is simply war-mongering. Sometimes, it starts via the airwaves and it is carried to the platforms.
What the people want to hear is not how foolish you think your opponents are, but what you think you can do for dear Ghana. For once, let us forget about our opponents and preach the gospel of what we can do, for which reason we want the endorsement of the people of Sikaman.
This article was first published on Saturday, June 5, 2004
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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