A file photo
Ghanaians have since the rebirth of democratic politics in Ghana in 1992, have become inexplicably partisan and polarized. They are partisanly NPP and NDC. They are almost polarised along tribal lines and geographical locations.
This attitude by Ghanaians has not been helpful in their quest for socio-economic emancipation. It has rather made some Ghanaians become absurdly sycophants and more or less, puppets, believing and doing what their masters say, or ask them to do. They don’t give any thought to the possible outcome or repercussions of what they are told but simply jump to it. Such are the Ghanaians who in my estimation are ignorant and zombies!
In the politics of Ghana today, a person canvassing for votes to become the next president of the country come election 2024, is promising Ghanaians the following three things among many others of the same nature and content.
I find his promises to border on shallow-mindedness and his extreme dearth of emancipatory ideas.
He promised in 2016 and continues to promise Ghanaians today that if they voted him to power in 2024, he will provide them with a second further Indian sitcom to the current one, thus, the "Kunkum Bhagya" that has enticed almost all Ghanaians, cutting across the age barriers.
As a populist politician with practically no nation-developing policies, ideas, and programs, he feels fulfilling the lazy national pastime of Ghanaians glued to their TV, enjoying the Indian soap opera, “Kunkum Bhagya", is so credible to persuade Ghanaians to vote for him.
Even if Ghanaians are persuaded to vote for him for the assurance of acquiring them an additional Indian soap opera to go side by side with the mentioned "Kunkum Bhagya", is it how best he can build the nation to bring prosperity to the people? The answer is a big NO!
If he were sensible and knew how to develop the country, he could at least look to empower the local actors and actresses to come up with daily TV dramas as used to be performed by the “Osofo Dadzie’s Drama Group” or that “Maame Dokono’s” of the late 1960s to 1990s.
This could create jobs for the local youths and yield income to the government and the actors and actresses rather than giving the money to Indians.
Again, constantly running to watch the Indian drama when the time is due, shutting the whole nation from other viable activities, is not the way forward to developing a nation.
I am myself a witness to how many Ghanaians, right from children of school-going age to students, grown up, and parents, cease all their activities to rather gather themselves in front of their TVs when it is time for showing the Indian "Kunkum Bhagya" movies.
The Ghanaians’ infatuation with the Indian soap opera does impact the education of the pupils and students. Precious learning time is needlessly spent watching movies.
Taking Ghanaians for fools and people having a short memory, he thinks helping glue them to their televisions watching Indian soap operas is all that they need in life.
Again, he promises to provide as many willing Ghanaians a small amount of money to buy them a few chicks for rearing and provision a small chicken coop to raise income for them through the sale of the eggs the birds will produce when grown. They will later sell the chickens when they are unable to produce eggs to earn further income.
What a president lacking effective policies and programs and knowledge to better the conditions of living of his people!
Moreover, being aware of how illegal small-scale and alluvial miners, called “galamseyers”, are wreaking irreparable damage to the nation’s water bodies, arable and fertile lands, and forests, this git of an aspiring president, is promising to resource and encourage them to expand their mining activities.
Knowing very well that the mentioned elements are life hence their destruction potentially impacts the long-term survivability and sustainability of Ghanaians in the country, he does not give a hoot provided the ignorant zombies inhabiting Ghana will accept it.
Any Ghanaian seeing, hearing, and reading how almost all the major rivers in Ghana, some of those are, Pra, Densu, Ofin, Ankobra, Afram, Nini, Black Volta, Ayensu, and their tributaries, are turning into flowing rivers of mud because of the devastating galamsey activities ongoing in the country, will wonder if the NDC flag bearer-cum-presidential-candidate, John Dramani Mahama, is credible enough a person to become the president of Ghana after NPP President Nana Akufo-Addo’s exit from the presidency.
The cyanide and mercury used by illegal miners for their activities are killing the fish or contaminating them to render them unwholesome-cum-silent killers for human consumption. The poisonous products continue to seep into the soil to affect the food crops that we eat. No wonder that many are dying prematurely in Ghana from all manners of diseases previously unknown to the nation.
Yes, many a Ghanaian for several reasons, may wish for a change of government and president, but should it be in favour of John Dramani Mahama, a person exhibiting such a conspicuous level of lack of knowledge about credible policies, programs, and ideas to developing a nation and her people?
Any Ghanaian that by partisanship and polarization is supporting, or praying for John Mahama to come back to rule Ghana again, is sorry to say, an ignorant damn zombie that does not know what they want and is not abreast with the world news about how some external shocks are affecting the economies of many countries in the world.
To extricate yourself from the tag of “ignorant Ghanaian and zombie”, you had better do away with partisanship and polarization when deciding on how and who can develop Ghana to the best admiration of the majority, if not all, Ghanaians.