I don’t know about you but as the Ghanaian elections draw ever closer, I’m beginning to connect the dots, and the picture emerging is revealing a shocking intrusion by some major western powers into our process.
This is no time to mince words but to be brutally frank: A politically bruised America after their just-ended “Developing World” style elections and a confused UK after their acrimonious Brexit vote have been too quick to jump into our affairs with one-sided accusations in favour of one of the main political contenders in our polls.
In a recent spat between supporters of the ruling NDC party and supporters of the one of the other political parties, NPP, the reactions of the US and UK were devoid of honest arbitration. The BCC news presentation of the events was equally unprofessional and one-sided.
A most disturbing development is the attempt to use a Ghanaian think-tank with ties to US funding to play the kind of role the FBI played in the final weeks of the US polls to disadvantage Candidate Hilary Clinton. They’re sponsoring a so-called “poll” that would make several claims including one that would put incumbent President Mahama in a bad light with no time left for the “damage” to be corrected.
Information available to this correspondent indicate that the Ghanaian boss of this think-tank has been advised by concerned Ghanaians not to do it, but whether his pay masters would accept or not is another matter.
One of the financiers of this think-tank is the National Endowment for Democracy, a CIA front that is funded by Congress and has been known for its subversion of governments around the world in the name of promoting democracy.
Business Intel has it that the Americans think they stand a better chance of getting the ECG privatization done under the NPP and the NPP has assured them that that would be the first order of business should they be elected. So it is business as usual! Businesses from both sides stand to make hundreds of millions of dollars, and that includes British-American companies. It’s a mouth-watering prospect.
The International Community must take note that they are also being watched even as they say they are monitoring our internal affairs. Their motives and intentions are under our scrutiny too. Ghanaians have never forgotten how external forces conspired to remove Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah; we will not allow them to do same to our current equally forward-looking leader. Ghanaian elections are for Ghanaians, just as the election of Donald Trump and vote to Brexit were for Americans and Britons respectively.
Ghanaians do take their elections seriously. They have done so since colonial times when plebiscites were organized to determine the country’s future from colony to independence some 60 years ago. We have become better and better at elections. That is why in the seven elections since the 4th Republic was promulgated we have put many checks and balances in place to ensure equity, fairness and non-violence. Many local non-governmental organizations have sprung up over the period solely for the purpose. We can mention the National Peace Council, the IEA, IDEG, CDD, MFWA and others. We need no foreign interference/intervention even before a single ballot has been cast.
For the avoidance of doubt, the following is a direct quote from the MFWA’s very latest report (released 16/11/16) on its election monitoring project:
“Abusive campaign language on radio has reduced by 72%, according to a report by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA). A 12-week trend analysis of the use of campaign language on radio covering the period July-September, 2016 show a 72% reduction in the number of indecent expressions monitored on 60 radio stations across the country. During the period, a total of 97 indecent expressions were recorded on a total of 4,603 radio programmes. Six political parties – New Patriotic Party (NPP), National Democratic Congress (NDC), Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), National Democratic Party (NDP), People’s National Congress (PNC) and a group introduced as National Labour Party (NLP) were also cited for the use of indecent expression during the period. Overall, six different categories of indecent expressions were used by officials, The MFWA campaign language monitoring project seeks to encourage people to be measured in their use of language by naming and shaming those who use abusive expressions on radio.”
From the above, it is quite clear that we are capable of taking care of our affairs. We need no foreign interference which can only ultimately lead to more entrenched positions and violence.
Source: James Brew/Freelance Journalist