Hoping forward

It’s been an interesting month. Christmas rushed by quickly, capping a year which has been momentous. We have kicked back into our regular mode of changing leadership every 8 years. The people who sought to break the 8 have been whittled into a limited version of what they used to be. It was a very vigorous campaign season with full-throated mudslinging from both sides. I have seen enough over the last 3 decades to know, that usually talk is cheap. There is shouting in opposition, then incumbent replacement, silence as the true state hits… more shouting, then change over at the 8 yearly mark. In the beginning heads will roll, contracts will cancel, then scandals cook and slowly the heralded heroes fall into disrepute… till opposition subsumes them. And then the cycle repeats. I have seen the cycle repeat faithfully, only the colors change.

Unfortunately even though the cycle repeats itself, polarization has continued to entrench. A neutral stand is no longer fashionable. Those who have tried to portray themselves as neutral, are not believed. Neutrality is labeled hypocrisy These are not times to sit on a fence. I voted, as I must. Our democracy must grow, so that this cycle can stop repeating. One day maybe, we will become a country that nurtures leaders to raise her up. Above the bickering of empty politicking that brings nothing real to the table.

There is a lot of talk of resetting, reclaiming… voices that are gaining in strength. Voices that have been waiting for just a time like this. And again, they are not new voices. They will push for accountability, and push for justice in government dealings. Entire projects will come to a standstill because of this newfound thirst for justice. There is a deep injustice in having so many crucial projects fall into dysfunction just because of a political renaissance… especially when on the ground nothing has changed.

It’s the same people bribing for school placing, or making unlawful U turns on the overpass. There will be no renaissance there. Life will just continue as usual. And sometimes it seems to me like we just wait until we get the opportunity to vote, and then decide on who should take the reins.

But true democracy is not meant to be an intermittent exercise for the thumb. It is a way of life. If we do not have democracy practiced in the trotro, at the funeral family meeting, at the Choir meeting.., and so on, we should forget about realizing the true rewards of having a government of the people, for the people, by the people. True democracy is active. Passivity will only breed dictatorships. Any democracy that functions by choosing leaders every 8 years and isolating them from normal life with free houses, free SUVs, international healthcare and traffic escorts to name a few, will not benefit the people, it will only groom leaders who will do anything to stay in power.

I look forward into 2025 with hope, because i have no choice. Hoping is the only way forward. We have all been gifted a fantastic country. Ghana is built for humans to thrive in. We have security, humor, family, greenery, food. A lot of terrible things have happened here, but also the most wonderful things have happened here. It is the people’s duty to protect what we have. This system called Ghana, must thrive, must grow, and only democracy equips us, the people, to grow with it. Only a democracy that is powered by the people.

We cannot afford to allow political leaders to forget the people.