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Opinions of Tuesday, 18 December 2012

Columnist: Darko, Otchere

NPP Must Go Back To History....

And Learn From Past Mistakes, So AS To Enable Them To Respect The Current Election Results As They Have Been Announced By The EC, Until They (The Current Election Results) Are Set Aside By A Law Court Of Competent Jurisdiction.

By Otchere Darko

NPP and the Danquah-Busia tradition have never learnt from history. Even though that party claims to represent the creed of Ghanaian democracy, the [occasional] tendency for it to allow frustration and anger to sway it to resort to violence to defend its assumed position, as opposed to resorting to law to back such position has created doubt in the minds of independent Ghanaians, like myself, as to whether they (NPP members and supporters) truly believe in democracy.

While many independent Ghanaians are saying that the 2012 elections have been affected by incidents that render it less “free and fair” than they would have wished, majority of such independent Ghanaians, including myself, do not consider resorting to demonstrations and violence as the right way for NPP to air their grievances. Ever since it became clear to them that they (NPP members and supporters) have lost the elections, some of them decided to use ‘lawlessness’ to press home their grievances. While the big party wigs in NPP, such as Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey , “Sir John” and Gabby Otchere-Darko (my namesake), have mounted platforms to denounce the results declared by the Electoral Commission, none of them have come public to condemn those members and supporters of NPP who are resorting to violence to redress their grievances. This is a shame to NPP that claims to stand for true democracy. How can a party, whose leader either by a slip of the tongue or by design used such dangerous language as “all-die be die” that has since its use come to haunt that party, keep quiet when some of its members and supporters seem to be putting the “all-die be die” slogan into practical demonstration?

My simple advice to NPP is to go back to history, especially the history relating to the 1951, 1954, 1956 and 1960 elections, and find out whether or not their [Danquah-Busia] tradition contributed in any way to the creation of the political environment that led to the establishment of the infamous “Preventive Detention Act” and the Communist-style “One-Party System” of democracy that the CPP introduced in the post-Republican era of Ghana. Democracy works only in situations where those who are declared losers of elections use the law and due process to seek redress and justice. Resorting to violence to redress electoral anomaly is anathematic to law and due process and, therefore, to democracy. And resorting to demonstration, where a case is before the law courts, is also an excessive use of due process and, therefore, unnecessary.

My advice to NPP is that if they (NPP) believe that they have a genuine and provable case against the conduct or/and the results of 2012 elections, the best and only peaceful way available to them is to leave the law and the courts to look into, and consider their case. The party leadership should therefore do the following three things to calm mounting sentiments against their party. These are:-

1. It should publicly call on all party members and supporters to desist from all acts of violence, including using force even to defend themselves when attacked by their opponents, or when provoked in any other way. 2. It should also publicly call on all party members and supporters not to go on any demonstration against the conduct or/and results of the 2012 elections while they (NPP members) are waiting for the court to hear and decide on the case their party has lodged at the High Court concerning the 2012 elections. Accordingly [and in particular], the party’s leadership should call on its Ashanti Region members and supporters to cancel their proposed demonstration in Kumasi on Tuesday, 18th December 2012. 3. It should advise its leading members, elected and executive, to continue to play their current role as the main “opposition party” and assist the government in moving the country forward, until such time that the court may decide otherwise in the case the party has filed before it.

Doing anything otherwise will tarnish NPP’s credentials as a party of democracy and damage its future chances of regaining power through peaceful elections.

Source: Otchere Darko.