By James Kwabena Bomfeh Jnr*
Introduction
Friday, February 24, 2023, marked exactly 57 years since the first brutal maiming of a Ghana under construction on Friday, February 24, 1966. It was brutal and reckless maiming without much thinking because its sponsors, architects, and supporters failed to look at it in its real terms as the;
1. Overthrow of the 1st Republican Constitution, 1960 as amended in 1964.
2. Closure of the 1st Republican Parliament and suspension of parliamentary practice.
3. Overthrow of the Executive Sovereign Will of the People under the barrel of the gun.
4. Usurpation of the Sovereign Will of the People to choose who to govern and how to be governed.
As it were, and unfortunately still thought of by a stubbornly unrelenting few, it was about the overthrow of Kwame Nkrumah and his indomitable CPP. Period! Yes, Kwame Nkrumah was the problem and he was gone! However, only less than six years after the excuse of a disaster, on exactly January 13, 1972, another act of impunity followed the terrible example sadly set.
The major beneficiary of the cruel coup visited on Ghanaians six years before, Prof. K. A. Busia and the Second Republican Constitution, 1969 were ousted on 13th January 1972. Traitor Acheampong exclaimed; “The malpractices which existed before 1966 are still with us and there was no prospect of seeing an end to them” as the cause of the military takeover.
Some 27 years after the 1966 overthrow and its justification by persons of the UP tradition including the late Prof K.A Busia, its successor party, NPP in 1993 went to the Supreme Court to describe the overthrow as wrong, “illegal”, unconstitutional, and a dangerous precedent. The Malawian proverb; “cows are trapped by their horns, men, by the words” was on display.
In 1978, there was a military shakeup that ousted Colonel Acheampong and replaced him with General Akuffo. This regime was also violently ousted on June 4, 1979, in the counter-coup d’etat that reluctantly handed over power on 24th September. Crime knows no law or end. So came the ousting of Dr. Hilla Limann and the 3rd Republic on December 31, 1981.
For nearly 11 years, the PNDC ruled this country with iron fists, impunity, murder, thievery, and a lazy appreciation of power as a position of privilege instead of responsibility. There was no accountability from those who had stolen the word ‘accountability’ as a mantra. They acted as they pleased only to yield to international pressure and a reawakened national consciousness.
From December 31, 1981, to January 6, 1993, for about 11 years, the claimant apostles of probity, accountability, and transparency aggravated, without shame or honor, the dark days in Ghana. The PNDC maimed, disempowered, and brutally assaulted every fabric of society to deceptively metamorphose into the monstrous election machine, NDC to perpetuate its unruliness.
Congenial sycophancy
The Constitution, 1992 turned 30 years on January 7, 2023. For the period we have had 8 presidential and parliamentary elections producing 5 Presidents but 8 Parliaments. Largely, these elections have been dominated and won by the two dominant parties, NDC and NPP. From the beginning, there was a marked difference between the two. However, congenial sycophancy has blurred any difference there was, and now it appears for both, it is just about power or position.
As Kwame Nkrumah, himself, observed, one positive lesson of the 24th February 1966 coup was the exposure of the sycophancy and hypocrisy of many a member of the CPP. He had “for long the gravest doubts about many of those in leading positions” in the Party. He argued that they “failed to understand the political and social purposes of the State” rendering it defective.
Today, there are many in both NDC and NPP or other political groupings no matter how insignificant who have no idea of any political, social, economic, or spiritual purpose. For such a group of persons, it is enough to belong to the “Party in Power” as if we elect parties rather than candidates sponsored by parties. Worse of all is the unwillingness of political parties to change and act right.
Disloyalty and treachery
Attendant to the congenial sycophancy is the barbaric disloyalty and treachery to the parties and the State. Nkrumah observed here too; “they had no loyalty to the state or the understanding of the social purpose which we were attempting to achieve.” It was therefore “absolutely impossible to utilize a machine which had shown itself so defective of understanding.”
Most a member of the two political parties that have dominated the 4th Republic, NDC, and NPP would say; “Me Anya hwee” (I have got nothing). When you probe further, it is about money not worked for. There is no loyalty to any development purpose of the State or the Party vision espoused by its leaders. Sadly, this disloyalty is entrenched by its twin, patronage with impunity.
Corruption and placating
Corruption was once aptly described by a former President as “mass murder.” I strongly believe that a succinct description was a revelation. Three of the gang of mutineers who maimed Ghana eternally, Deku, Harlley, and Ankrah were to be dealt with for various corrupt acts. Thus, the coup saved them from being pursued. In turn, they justified the mutiny with corruption.
It is noteworthy that Nkrumah acknowledged the prevalence of corruption in the country but added attempts to identify, arrest and curb it. He “personally supervised the direction of criminal investigations against ministers and prominent Party members” which eventually led to the prosecution of former Minister of Agriculture, F. Y. Asare, and Kojo Djaba as an accomplice.
Under the 4th Republic, we have always had a denial of corruption in government circles while it is at the same time trumpeted in opposition enclaves. It is denied and when the denial fails, it is defied with cheap rationalizations, and/or equalizations. All these happen amidst scientifically established studies, locally and internationally. It is the case that no one wants to ‘bell the cat.’
Distortions with Intolerance
Our politics right from the foundations has been shrouded in distortions. It is a fact that most of the leaders of the nation’s struggle to self-govern meant well. The degree of variation or difference of how well each meant, I cannot tell. However, they differed strongly in their approach to the colonial question. Yet, they allowed their differences to obscure any common interest.
Perhaps, the most effective of them all was the man who had a broader, deeper, and better understanding of the colonial question – Kwame Nkrumah. It was his experience from varied backgrounds more than anything that made it possible. This was the one line of departure. However, lies were heaped on each side from the opposite just to win the favor of the people.
A cursory look at the newspaper cuttings from the very early days of our nation’s history and what pervades today are essentially the same. We slander and justify or rationalize the lies with additional falsehoods. So, for some 66 years, in the words of Most Rev. Dr. J. S. A. Stephens, a past President of the Methodist Church; we have had the period of:
“… misinformation and malicious rumor-mongering that have earned us a generation who do not know how to appreciate their greatness and their achievements. People with weak morals and backward dispositions do not read for the truth. They monger, and with their mouth, they tear themselves and the beloved nation apart, throwing their nation’s legacies to the wind only to gasp for death in poverty.”
We can rise together. We can recreate ourselves. We can refocus the energies of Ghana. We can rally every citizen into a formidable and indomitable national force that will crush the evils within. It will require a total commitment to TRUE CONSENSUS BUILDING THROUGH TOLERANCE AND SINCERITY IN THE FEAR OF GOD. May God be our Help as in ages past and bless our homeland, Ghana.
