Features
The political sprint race about to begin
Sikaman Palava
Elections in Sikaman are often interesting, especially at the primary level. It is at this level that people can vote against you because your face is too bushy.
Others will vote for you because of your American haircut or your Arabic moustache which has been jerry-curled.
A delegate will cast a vote against you simply because he feels you are too fond of eating kokonte at ‘CHOP BETTER’ chop bar. He might not realise that your addiction to kokonte is like an addiction to cocaine and even if you become a head-of-state you cannot resist facing the wall.
At the primaries, you are given the passport to hell. Getting elected can be pretty easy, but given the nod can induce palpitation because it places a huge burden on your head. First, you must start looking for cash. You’ll start estimating the value of the cocoa farm your father left behind when he passed away.
Or will a foreign loan do?
Whatever it is, Ghana politics cannot be ran on an empty back pocket. You must budget for palm wine for the folks who’ll double as your foot-soldiers; organisers of canopies and those who buy you ‘waakye’ and ‘pure-water’. They form the core of your utility staff. They are a necessary evil.
SQUASH
Naturally, some people won’t take palm wine. It doesn’t kick them! To then palm wine is softer than orange squash. So you have to budget for ‘akpeteshie’ better known as ‘kele’. You must apportion money for hot kenkey and plenty of fish, because you’ll be advised that when you give somebody ‘ogoglo’, you better follow it up with food.
Your budget must include funeral donations, outdooring gifts, payment of school fees of people who irritate you, just to get the votes of their parents. When you put pen to paper and add money for courting floating voters and incidentals, you’ll start considering whether it was worth entering the race.
The problem with it is that, once you have entered as an aspiring MP there is no U-turn. You can’t go and tell your constituents that based on your calculations you have decided to chicken out. You just don’t have the cash to finance your campaign so it is better to quit than face disgrace. That will not be.
OPTION
The option available is to seek a money lender and promise him that when you win, you’ll make him the Minister of Finance. And if he is stupid enough to believe it, then you are a goner.
The politicking becomes more interesting when you get to the presidential level. The problem with every politician is that he (or she) has ambitions to become president one day either through providence or by mistake.
So the scramble to the nation’s top post can become quite frantic, because all manner of people keep day-dreaming and fantasising about becoming president although they know somehow that it is impossible.
Getting to the top has nothing to do with fantasy. It takes hard-work to accomplish, aside all the other factors like charisma, financial support, powerful manifestoes and even political gimmicking.
When the Peoples National Convention (PNC) held its congress, I fondly remembered Dr. Limann. He used to carry his campaign message by putting it on the lips of his countrymen. “Any challenger, no challenger! Dr Limann, no challenger.”
His supporters added spice to it: ‘Any challanga, no challanga, Dr. Limann, no challanga!’ Others in his team adopted the Jimmy Carter booster, “Jimmy who? Jimmy Carter!” Some newspapers carried it: “Li who? Limann!” And Limann won to kick start the third republic.
Soon Flt Lt. Jerry Rawlings started eyeing the castle seat with keen interest. He had earlier warned Dr Limann to squat well on the stool and to do some house-cleaning. Dr. Limann agreed but soon forgot all – about the Jerry Rawlings accord, and – before Jack Robinson came to mind, the stool of power was wrestled from under his buttocks.
Today, Limann is no more. May his soul rest in peace. His political legacy is in the palms of Dr. Edward Mahama, a brilliant doctor turned politician. His ‘two sure two direct’ slogan caught on quite well as he appealed to the Zongo communities to rally to the PNC call.
Last Saturday, he became one of the men to have been elected three times to lead the party to the polls. It means his people have confidence in him. With his victory at congress comes the era of Kofi Wayo, the rapping-machine who knows how to blow his own horn, because nobody will blow it for him anyway.
He has brought a hint of American politicking into the game and clinched 185 votes at congress, far less than Dr. Mahama. And he says he was very surprised to get that much. He had thought he would only get about 45. Surely, he’ll be made the flag bearer’s running mate and we can all expect fireworks as usual.
PRESSURE
The overall political temperature is rising gradually. Alliances are being discussed and forged. Those who have won primaries are busy developing high blood pressure. Others have already started having running stomachs. The excitement is rising day after day as the NPP and NDC warm up for the contest of the decade. All the parties have elected their flag bearers.
What Ghanaians are praying for is peace. They value it because it is precious. Politics is a game, not guerilla warfare. While campaigning on platforms, politicians should preach peace alongside their manifestoes.
What brings conflict? It is the tongue. If you mount a platform and start insulting political opponents, certainly that isn’t politics. It is simply war-mongering. Sometimes, it starts via the airwaves and it is carried to the platforms.
What the people want to hear is not how foolish you think your opponents are, but what you think you can do for dear Ghana. For once, let us forget about our opponents and preach the gospel of what we can do, for which reason we want the endorsement of the people of Sikaman.
This article was first published on Saturday, June 5, 2004