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Opinions of Thursday, 8 November 2012

Columnist: Ali, Justice

Let us deal with the devil in our constituency

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Fellow members of NDC, let’s deal with the devil if the devil has a constituency. And don't complain about the heat. Do not withhold good from those its due when it is within your power to do good. In my opinion, the greatest single failure of politician is his/her inability to distinguish between a symbol and what it stands for. History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives .Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable. It takes in reality only one to make a quarrel. It is use for the carnivorous to pass resolutions in favour of devouring the sheep without given any consideration to the vegetarianism. A real leader does not wait for others to die for them, instead the fight to die for the people they serve. Vote for the people who promise least; they will be the least disappointing.
Frankly speaking, I am tired of hearing people preach about what they term as “the politics of insults” even to the extent that some claim that I use hash words and that my words are sometimes below the belt. I have been in great pain to wrap my head around the concept. What baffles me most, which probably shouldn’t even surprise me, is the fact that many people have latched on to this phrase and are talking about it, making all sort of noise without understanding what it means. A lot of people descended heavily on me for the description I gave to Alijata Sulemani by the statement “if a District Chief Executive is a Donkey blame the people”. I follow Ghanaian politics keenly and I am afraid I don’t see or hear anything that gives me the impression that our politics is laden with insults to the point where people should be wasting our ears with needless pontificating. Politics is a high pressure endeavour where the exchange of harsh-words is permitted. Politicians are entirely within their rights to use puns, satire, wit, ridicule and sarcasm to argue their cases and win votes. These could be harsh and uncomplimentary sometimes, but it is perfectly alright. Politics is not about culture. It’s not about morality. For so many years in this country every misdeed, misjudgement and miscalculation have been described with one adjective: “unfortunate”. It’s almost as if the whole country has rather unfortunately run out of adjectives. If she steals our money, it’s unfortunate. Our failure to describe the actions and inactions of our leaders with the appropriate adjectives makes them all feel like it’s alright to misbehave and underperform. After all, what will the people say? Unfortunate! Who cares? Politics is not for the faint-hearted; people with frail egos and thin-skins. If I called Alijata Sulemani and her team incompetent, how is that supposed to be an insult? If you are incompetent, then that is what you are. And if a leader makes foolish decisions and behaves badly, I think we should say it as it is and not mince words. If a leader engages in prostitution and so I called her a Cyprian woman, is that one too an insult?
When I hear the name of Sulemani Alijata I hear the sound of flapping white coats. A hypocrite in public office, the world will be puzzled to decide whether you are an apostate or an impostor, whether you have abandoned good principles, or whether you ever had any. It wouldn’t be wrong to suggest that Sulemani Alijata is her own worst enemy, when there are so many others better qualified for the post. A cold-blooded Alijata Sulemani is calculating, unprincipled usurper, without a virtue; no statesman, knowing nothing of commerce, political economy, or civil government, and supplying ignorance by bold presumption. In short, she is lamentably successful cross between a fox and a hog. My brothers and sisters in NDC in order to save our party and to see to it that there is massive development in our district let us adopt voting on skirt and blouse. VOTE His Excellency John Dramani Mahama For Real.

WRITTEN BY THE DEPUTY COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR OF YOUNGER DEMOCRATS IN SISSALA EAST CONSTITUENCY: MR. JUSTICE ALI