The fragile membranes of peace

“If Akufo-Addo killed 8 people to win power in the last election cycle, it shouldn’t be an issue if we (NDC) get at least two people killed to win in the coming elections…if it means using a stick or a gun to kill, we will do so as long as it delivers power to us.” Wait. What!? 

 

Just imagine, these are some of the comments of the Suame NDC youth organizer. I wonder if it did occur to him he could be one of the two people to die for his party to win power. And what’s worse? He thinks it is par for the course to have “casualties” in every election cycle. If you listened to this gentleman, you could clearly tell he is not fit to lead any group of rational creatures. I mean who would heed the advice of someone with such rustic mindset. 

 

I sometimes wonder if people who pass incendiary comments like this can actually bear it when the balloon goes up. Must we dangerously flirt with violence like this? Hang on, do we have to profile countries that have experienced horrendous violence for Ghanaians to know the peace they enjoy is golden? Let no one be deceived, civil strife once started is exceedingly difficult to end. And this is not even as remote from us as we think: right next door to us in 2011, Cote D’Ivoire plunged into a vicious cycle of chaos that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. Liberia, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Mali, the list is inexhaustible.

 

My people have saying that can essentially be translated to mean “you don’t grill what is forbidden to eat.” Lest you put your finger in your mouth when you’re scalded. To wit, you don’t have to go about playing with situations that you cannot handle their consequences. We cannot feign ignorance of the destructive powers of civil conflicts when the evidence surrounds us and thick enough for us to taste. 

 

This is not the first time a politician used such inflammatory language this carelessly. It’s becoming fashionable in both fringes of our political parties to court people to support them through violent means to wrest power from their opponents. If they have cocooned themselves into a conflict-proof bubble, it’s worth bursting it and reminding them that it doesn’t take  such dramatic turn of events to start a conflict. These “benign” incitements are the very ones that precipitate political crisis. 

 

 Even without any civil/political strife, look at the pace at which we are growing as a country: one step forward, ten steps back. If Ghana won’t get development from politics we may be able to handle that. What we cannot handle is violence from politics. Comments like this are pressing dangerously close to the fragile membranes of our hallowed peace.

 Please NDC and NPP, we as citizens, are suffering enough from your winner-take-all kind of governance. We do not want any Wahala from your MEGALOMANIA!!!