Who Will Win The December Elections?

In the “History of Western Philosophy”, Bertrand Russell, on expatiating on the core philosophical stand of Machiavelli wrote and I quote “...it is true that power often depends on opinion and opinion upon propaganda; it is true, also, that it is an advantage in propaganda to seem more virtuous than your adversary, and that one way of seeming virtuous is to be virtuous “. Bertrand Russell went further to point out that for the above reason “it may sometimes happen that victory goes to the side which has the most of what the general public considers to be virtue”.

A cursory glance at the murky or rather undulating terrain of the Ghanaian political landscape reveals that the NPP has inadvertently grasped the Machiavellian principle above. Maybe out of boredom, I follow almost every single radio discussion or television programme on politics in contemporary Ghana. I observe a certain trend: while the NPP leaves no stone unturned to educate the general population about its achievements, the other political parties (and NDC in particular) are seen trying to demystify any impression the NPP is trying to create in the minds of Ghanaians. In as much as this is laudable, it certainly must not be done at the detriment of the core message in a manifesto. A few examples will suffice.

On the National Health Insurance Scheme, I have heard two arguments being advanced by the NDC. On the one hand, some NDC stalwarts appear to be arguing that the Kuffuor administration must not take the whole credit for the scheme. They argue that before they left office, the scheme was on a pilot basis in places like Damongo and other selected hospitals in Ghana. The second argument is that the scheme is not sustainable in that there are systemic issues which needed to have been addressed before rolling out the scheme to the length and breadth of Ghana. The point they emphasize here is that the Kuffuor administration was too quick in rolling the scheme out and that they should have addressed potential problems in the scheme before rolling it out. Cogent argument! However, on the issue of the sustainability of the scheme, the question that lingers on my mind is is it not natural that we encounter some obstacles at the embryonic stages of every human endeavour. It may not always be the case that we encounter problems, but problems must be anticipated no matter how diligent we are in preparing our grounds.

Britain, which is the bellwether of the National Health Insurance Scheme (in their case, National Health Service) is not without problems even though the scheme has been in operation since 5th July, 1948. For example when the scheme was rolled out in 1948, it was not anticipated that the cost of running the scheme was going to increase at an abnormal rate. Hence two years down the lane, it became necessary to introduce a one-shilling charge for prescription drugs and £1.00 for dental treatments. So contentious was the issue of the NHS that the promise of reforms in the NHS was indeed one of the cardinal issues of the Blair campaign in 1997. However, even today, the NHS is still not without its problems. Hence the argument that the scheme is not sustainable in view of the emerging problems is one that has to be dropped. The truth is that the scheme has been able to strike a chord with the general population. For the man on the street who hitherto could not afford to go to the hospital, the scheme is a panacea he cannot refuse. It will be very difficult, if not impossible, to persuade any discernible mind that the NHIS is not working. There might be an iota of truth in the idea the scheme is beset with problems but why waste time trying to convince people against a deep-seated belief that the scheme is working for them?

Oil Find. I hear some NDC stalwarts working hard to convince the Ghanaian people that the oil find is their brainchild. That might be true. But again is that an issue which the NDC should be wasting time on? The truth is that, the Ghanaian people were not told (during the NDC days) that we were exploring the possibility of discovering oil in the shores of Ghana. When Kuffuor came, he made the promise and six or seven years down the lane, the oil is discovered. No matter how hard you try, you will not be able to convince anyone that it was the NDC that initiated the process. It will therefore be a futile venture to even attempt to demystify that perception. The cue the NDC has to learn from this is to learn to be more open with information when they next come into office. That is one thing the NPP is good at and it is working to their advantage.

The argument therefore is that rather than the NDC wasting valuable time quibbling over issues which will not strike a chord with the electorate, there is a need for a paradigm shift: a shift towards raising issues which come with a modicum of originality. For example in 2000, the NPP came with a powerful message about corruption in high places. Ghanaians were constantly reminded of the degree of corruption in government. Mr Kuffuor therefore promised to uproot that canker by every means possible. The message was trumpeted in every nook and cranny of Ghana with a tone that was deafening. Even some chauvinistic supporters of the NDC in those days were caught admitting that there was corruption. That was how successful this message was sold. As to whether Mr Kuffuor has been able to do as he promised is a different issue, but that was the message that saw him assume the reins of power; a successful propaganda.

And today, Akuffo Addo is trumpeting a message “My Government, God willing, will make peace, security, education and development the four pillars for the new Ghana”. And I realise that they are very consistent in putting this message across. I am not a communications expert, but I am tempted to believe that the consistency with which a message is put out there will determine the extent to which it will be bought. This is akin to music. How many times haven’t we criticised some music tracks only for us to later enjoy them only after the radio stations have played and repeated them over and over again? The campaign slogan of “we are moving forward” has been trumpeted and rammed into our ears so much so that some opposition members are caught off guard using it only to realise later. That (in my opinion) is working propaganda machinery.

In his book “Laws of Politics” Morton C. Blackwell wrote “Political technology determines political success.” If that is anything to go by (and it certainly is), then all the political parties must be seen to be showing that they are adept at this element of political technology. You cannot win elections by constantly waiting for your opponent to come out with ideas and you trying to refute them. When I listen to radio phone-in programmes, I find that the NPP callers (supporters) are usually relaxed thereby being able to articulate their views within the time allotted. In the case of the NDC callers what I see is usually a message fraught with a passion for vengeance. What I see is emotions flaring up and sometimes one can literally see their veins standing out unend. And because their message is shrouded in emotion, they tend to lose their orientation and the very import of their message. At the end of the day, in the minds of us listeners, it is usually the NPP message which sinks in.

In conclusion, let all the political parties, in fighting to assume the mantle of leadership of this NATION do so in a civilised manner. Bertrand Russell once said “war does not determine who is right – only who is left”. The winner of this election may not be virtuous in the true sense of the word, but victory will go to the side which has the most of what the general public considers to be virtue.

GOD BLESS OUR HOMELAND GHANA!

SIR ALAN BANDA.