An African drama on a narrow stage

A GNA colour by Samuel Osei-Frempong

Accra, Aug. 2, GNA - In the once celebrated Accra International Conference Centre, wet feet dragged on the colourful carpets that led to a narrow stage crafted for soft and hard drama.

The dawn had broken with showers in the city and the mist that formed out of that marriage held the horizon captive, prolonging its colonization as the day travelled. Not even the intermittent sun breaks could bring about the much-awaited emancipation.

From the huge doors that "bang" with little effort, the line up of flags planted on the stage captures the storyline of the drama packaged with an international flavour.

The flag of Ghana: The red, gold with the black star and green folded with splendour among the countries that were once under British rule. Some countries like Mozambique fell to other dominations like Portugal but just got attracted to the idea of a common wealth. Ghana, which once blazed the trail of constitutional democracy, lost its appeal and slammed into prolonged military adventurism. So when the stage was set for the continental Parliamentary drama, the actors talked and danced other African cultures while the Ghanaian actors watched from the backstage.

But the Sun called democracy shone on the shores of the land where gold dust once dominated the top layer of its soil.

And for that effort, Ghana was invited into that circle where the seats are reserved for those who cherished democracy, where seats are reserved for those who have vowed to jaw jaw, those who would use the brain and the mouth to agree to disagree and not the might of brawn and arms.

This huge Continent called Africa has seen all the ills of history and continues to be plagued by war, disease, corruption and ignorance. The sea of bigotry has flooded her positive attributes as it tosses and murmurs around her pristine navel.

But the people still have faith and look on the stage called parliamentary democracy, which was hurriedly put together for a drama whose actors are chosen in the midst of doubts, confusion and legal wrangling.

The African's newly found faith in democracy is however unshaken. It is a kind of faith that transcends reality, the faith that materialises in the evidence of events yet to happen.

So on Wednesday, more than one hundred representatives of African members of the Commonwealth descended on the coastal city of Accra to talk about various issues including AIDS and how the representatives of the people could address it. They belong to a new generation, which is determined to soar above the odds to write a better storyline of a drama in which the actors would no longer be the masters of the people but partners in development. The wet and cold winds took the outside environment captive as the busy feet dragged in the drenched earth far away from the stage where the beautiful flags of the nations of a re-emerging Continent are hoisted. 2 Aug. 06