Analysis of Political Insults: “All-die-be-die” was ethnic based

Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s “all-die-be-die” mantra has been described as “a warmongering call to party fanatics, sympathizers and persons of a particular ethnic background, to take up the path of violence during the upcoming election”.

The above-stated sentence is part of an analysis in an article headed ‘Fruitcake’, ‘Madmen’, ‘All-die-de-die’: Deconstructing Political Discourse and Rhetoric in Ghana, compiled by two (2) authors, Sarah Okaebea Danso and Fiifi Edu-Afful.

The article is one of the collections of articles in a book published with sponsorship from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, titled; “Managing Election-Related Violence for Democratic Stability in Ghana”.

According to the article, the widely commented “all-die-be-die” phrase uttered by the NPP flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo, in an address to party members in the Eastern Regional capital, Koforidua, in the build-up to the 2012 general elections, even though unpleasant, was to “encouraged all NPP men and women to pluck up courage as their forebears did to match their NDC counterparts, boot for boot, concluding twice that “all-die-be-die”.

Revealed in the article was that, the phrase having gained popularity and notoriety was unfortunately embraced by the party’s rank-and-file’ as several persons was heard vocalizing it as if it were an indication of their diehard ‘commitment’ to do whatever one must to ensure their party comes to power.

Still on hate speech and the use of intemperate language by political actors, the article pointed out how Ghana’s political discourse has become increasingly marked by verbal abuse and unguarded statements expressed, particularly, during election season.

It is stated also that, the use of such intemperate languages by political actors; some of them who want power “at all cost” (apologies to Nana Addo) is a recipe for violence since the country becomes polarized and tensions heighten.

With the political landscape having been characterized with intemperate language and its dire consequences, the article warned political actors to refrain from using provocative speeches on the nation’s political terrain in order to avoid situations like that of Kenya, Zimbabwe , Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria, following the recurring features of tell-tale grassroots violence.