The Diasporan Debate-An issue beyond voting

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I am a diasporan, and I feel strongly about my country. There is no day that passes without me thinking of the numerous problems that confront my beloved land.

We diasporans have obligations, commitments and things we do variously at our individual homes which affect our nation generally, and I choose to recount such examples so as to throw more light on why we can and must be allowed to vote in Ghanaian elections.

When I travel to Ghana I try to look at the problems of Ghana with the eye of an european yet with a Ghanaian heart and to look out for the solutions and possibilities. The problems of pollution; litter and filth, cumbustion and dust, noisy churches built around residential areas, the blowing of horns unecessarily by drivers, the waste and corruption. The lack of discipline and of loyalty to our poor and dear nation by some so-called resident Ghanaians and so on??..

I keep hoping for a day when the chance and day to completely overhaul the Ghana Police will come, I think of a suggestion or a plan to help keep our doctors in our hospitals and I think of how we can build good roads without government feeling the pinch too much, I think daily about how to reduce the pollution and by God I think of my parents; my dad and my mum who are in their old age. I am a fullblooded Ghanaian.

My dad for one has been a police officer his life through and recieves his pension now. Every one knows what incomes derived from pensions can mean, he has also been a cocoa farmer aside his being a policeman. Nowadays, the oldman cant clear the bushes under the cocoa plants by himself so I have to send him money for hiring labor. I helped him to expand and to renovate his house, and since most of us his children have moved out now, he has rented out some of the rooms to some teachers in our village.

My mum and dad are not living together and as the first son it became a duty to find accommodation for mum in her hometown. I spent over a hundred and twenty million cedis for this task this year alone and she is settled happily in her own place now. Until then, she was living in my house in Accra where now lives a pastor who badly needed a place to rent to accommodate his family.

My wife is a trained pre-school teacher here and we have plans to build a first class daycare senter in Ghana one day. We believe this will help our dear country and not help only us. We believe in Ghana and the Ghanaian dream. I will be a farmer one day in Ghana and to be active in my community bringing with me rich experiences to the locality.

I am an executive member of the Ghana union in my country of abode and one of our set priorities is to find ways and means of convincing and attracting investors Ghana. In short, I am a blackman, a Ghanaian, son of ogyakromians and a concerned citizen of my beloved country.

I did not leave Ghana to escape the hardships and to enjoy elsewhere, I left Ghana because there were no jobs and when finally I got a job and settled here, I never turned my back on my country as some seem to be suggesting now in this debate. On the contrary, all my savings have gone to Ghana either through remittances or projects. I have built houses that fellow Ghanaians are renting and living in confortably, I have assisted in any way I could. I have bought medicines for the sick and dying where our hospitals lacked those medicines,

I recently paid for a neighbor to undergoe a surgical operation at the 37 military hospital because she could not simply afford the cost!. Right now as I am writting I have in my store room six sets of football jerseys, two dozens footballs and basketballs which I intend to distribute to schools in my district the next time I arrive in Ghana. I pay tax in Ghana (community levy and property tax), electricity and water bills attract indirect taxes and payment of these come from monies I earn from abroad, we contribute actively towards major funerals and devolopmental projects.

So who says he is more Ghanaian than me? Who says he can vote and I cant? let him tell me what he has done for his country that makes him more Ghanaian than me or why he thinks I have run away from my duties as a Ghanaian. Although I did not stay in Ghana after university and 3 years national service to work, I am fully satisfied with the way things turned out and I see myself as one of Ghanas numerous hens which lay golden eggs for my country, I am able to contribute in tangible terms, support my country personally without having to rely on it, I expect nothing from my country except to allow me to perform my duties faithfully to her which among others include voting to choose good leaders.

I consider myself a good ambassador of Ghana here, so I watch my steps in whatever I do in other not to bring the good name of my beloved land into disrepute.

I have acquired new skills experiences and perspectives which my country can richly tap from in future if I am given the chance first through voting. This is my short story folks.

This story is not peculiar but one that is similar to every diasporan. This is our call and duty to our nation, the same way as palestinians, Syrians, Indians and Lebanese living in Ghana do for their countries. Remember it is the Jewish diaspora which makes the state of Israel to be strong through lobbying and direct financial support. Don`t Americans living and working in Ghana vote in American elections?

When Ghana talks of attracting tourists I believe she speaks also about us. I have the means to travel on holiday every year to the major holiday sites around the world, but why should I do that when I could in my little way contribute to Ghanas tourist industry through my visiting and spending?, such is my love and indeed the love of all Ghanaians living abroad. We are the group of tourists who will travel to Ghana regardless of the negatives, regardless of the harrassment of customs officers and policemen; regardless of unheigynic conditions, sewage into the sea, polluted air and environment etc. etc. It is no secret that travelling back home we receive poor treatment at our own port of entries than the transit points in other countries. (Ghanaians mistreating Ghanaians!), and yet the authorities never intervene. It would have been a different story if Ghanaians at the ports mistreated europeans or americans. We are and we are the group of tourists that will never turn our backs on ogyakrom despite the disregard???!!!.

The transportation sector would have collapsed the harbours gone bankrupt, scarcity in housing and accommodation a reality and untold fiscal problems for our government had it not been for Ghanaians abroad.

If it is the position of the NDC to deny Ghanaians living abroad the right to vote in Ghanaian elections then they need to do some sitting up. If not, they have to clarify the situation and help pass the bill.

I am not an NDC nor an NPP member but I am in favor of a strong opposition party which deals with facts based on the overrall interest of the nation until the next elections could be held and thus my tilt to the NDC. When the NPP was in opposition I supported it. Today if I am given the chance to vote I will do so based on the issues at stake and who supports the things I believe in. It is in this vein that I caution the NDC to be pragmatic and real.

The oppositions duty is to set the pace and tone for constructive dialog and debates keeping the sitting government on its toes all along. It is not the oppositions duty to oppose merely for opposing sake. As long as a suggestion is in the interest of Ghanaians wherever they may find themselves, it should be supported, but the oppositions duty here is to look out for loopholes in the bill seeking to correct them. That is how we can rebuild our nation.

Can the NDC really after reading the aboved and others sincerely conclude that I cannot vote in Ghanaian elections?.

Mr. Quarshie has written well to display his ignorance about the topic on board, I challenge the NDC to come out with an official statement about their standpoint on the issue. With such display of ignorance I doubt if such a person represents the NDC at all. If indeed it is its position, lets hear why the NDC wants to deny us (hardworking Ghanaians stationed elsewhere) the voting right.

This debate is actually about "fear", fear of the Ghanaian living abroad who most often is economically sound, independent minded, well-informed and capable of taking on the government in power if we so wish. But this is good for our country and its democracy; a strong public opinion and pressure group is nothing to underestimate but a welcome for Ghanas sake.

Until we hear from the NDC I believe Ghana should make it easy for Ghanaians to remain Ghanaians and to partake in activities back home whiles in fact equally making it difficult to denounce the Ghanaian citizenship. This should be a matter of priority. It is in Ghanas interest that Ghanaians who are in the position to and so wish can have dual citizenship.

We have heard of stupid and shallow arguments based on the fact that visa fees are collected from non holders of Ghanaian passports and so Ghana can do with people denouncing their citizenship. Such arguments stem from short term thinking and from the same reason of fear.

The diasporan debate is about voting, respect and a better treatment of a people who are out in search of the daily bread not only for themselves but the entire family, society and nation. It is about the politics of inclusion and it is about trust and telling the truth.

In certain countries, it is actually forbidden to denounce ones citizenship, whiles other countries make it difficult by demanding an amount of money in compensation from the person. A country like Norway does not accept dual citinzenship for its citizens and the only way it can waver on its position is when the original country makes it forbidden or does not accept denounciation or yet still makes it difficult by demanding an amount exceeding NOK6000,- . Norway then has nothing to do but to accept that the person maintains his original passport as well as his newly acquired citizenship. If I apply for a Norwegian citizenship and still wants to maintain my Ghanaian passport, all I need to do is prove that my country is demanding an amount exceeding $1000,- and the condition will be waved, or a prove that it is forbidden to denounce a Ghanaian citizenship.

The fact is, however long I live here in europe, because of my colour, language and ties back home I will still remain Ghanaian. My sympathies will still be with Ghana.

We???..we Ghanaians living abroad feel very hurt by this debate for all its intents and purposes. We deserve better from our country and its leaders.

I therefore think it is about time for Ghana to not only show her gratitude to her numerous citizens abroad through the sufferage debate but also to make it in real terms possible for them to maintain the Ghanaian citizenship if only they want to. Hence a ban for denouncing ones Ghanaian citizenship or a fee which will make it difficult to denounce whiles making participation in Ghana including voting a reality. The diasporan debate transcends the bounds of voting through fighting and trying to stay a Ghanaian. Let no man or group of men ever attempt to take away that right from us. Lets eschew the politics of exclusion and look into the future as one people who cherish one anothers existence for a common good. For God and Country.