It appears as if the only way AFAG can increase their political interest and advancement is by whipping up emotions of the general public and using it to advance their interest and that of their financiers. The group has always come out to vehemently oppose, castigate and mislead people about government’s policies and initiatives which are geared towards the betterment of the proletariat. This is not surprising from a bourgeoisie group.
Readers would recollect that in June 2010, AFAG organised a demonstration in the Ashanti regional capital of Kumasi, charging student unions, faith based organisations, civil society organisations and consumer groups to join them demonstrate against increment in prices of utilities by the Public Utility and Regulatory Commission. What they forgot or maybe refused to acknowledge was the fact that the government had cushioned a percentage of the increment. They described the increases as ‘’insensitivity of the President Mills led National Democratic Congress NDC) government to the plight of the already suffering Ghanaian by introducing the latest drastic increase in utility prices under the shallow excuse of meeting the production cost of the service providers’’.
Perhaps the members of AFAG lost their reasoning prowess, because increases in utilities is an important measure to ‘’pull of a budget deficit’’. What is better, to be able to solve the problems of today by increasing prices or accumulating large sums of debt for generations yet unborn? Well, no wonder the barking came from a group that believes in the amassing of wealth at the expense of the masses. They simple do not get it, that being social democrats does not prevent you from increasing taxes and tariffs, some socialist and welfare states such as the Nederland’s, Sweden and Denmark do have taxes that their citizens pay as well, so what is Ghana doing different.
Political pressure groups should not only be seen as opposing every government initiative, they must act in ways that consolidate and entrench the democratic and economic progress that we seek to achieve by not only going on unnecessary demonstrations, but proposing concrete and feasible alternatives to government. Organising demonstrations like the ‘’ahokyere’’ demonstration slated for the 26th of January by AFAG will not change the situation of Ghanaians, it will not reduce the petro prices, and it will never abate the economic fortunes of Ghanaians. One can only say that for AFAG, this is another cunning move to build up discontent among a section of the public against the government of today, a way to demonstrate that if it is not their way, it can never be any body’s way.
Of course, I am neither against demonstrations nor the legitimacy of individuals to protest government policies, but when such demonstrations are tainted with parochialism- coined to create dissatisfaction, and purposely orchestrated to advance the interest of a group of people with political inclination; then I wonder why anybody would want to be associated with or participate in such a lame demonstration.
Kamara Makama
The Hague University of Applied Science
[email protected]