A round of applause for President John Dramani Mahama for declaring his assets to the Auditor- General.
It is an open declaration that he submits to the laws of Ghana.
But something doesn’t add up. Why will the President, on the one hand, be seen to be so law-abiding while, on the other hand, so silent at the most disruptive form of illegality by the National Organiser of NDC, Joseph Yammin, who has run amok, declaring a reign of terror?
In a social media post early in the week referencing Majority Leader’s apology to Ken Ofori-Atta whose residence had been raided, Joseph Yammin warned that “The next time we hear any apology from the Majority in Parliament, everyone will hear of us.”
Advertisement
When did Ghana descend into such state of anarchy? Judged by the level of thuggery displayed in their previous Rambo outings – the latest being the invasion of Ken Ofori-Atta’s residence – I shudder to think what “everyone will hear of us” translates into.
On December 17, 2024, Joseph Yammin (the very same) led a mob that seized bullion bars being processed by PMMC for the Bank of Ghana. Someone had told Yammin and his crowd that gold was being smuggled out of the country by certain political actors.
It turned out the bullion bars belonged to the Bank of Ghana and that they were being assayed as part of the ongoing Domestic Gold Purchase Programme launched in June 2021.
Throughout history, citizens have expressed anger with systems that have gone wrong in their country. Often, however, the anger is misdirected. That, specifically, is what has gone wrong with the “vigilance” of Yammin and his crowd.
An example of misdirected anger is the case involving the immediate past CEO of Ghana Petroleum Authority, Egbert Faibille, and Mustapha Gbande, NDC’s Deputy General Secretary.
Egbert had tuned in to Asempa FM in the morning of Tuesday, February 18 when he heard Gbande cite him among dismissed NPP CEOs who were still holding on to state-owned vehicles.
Egbert called into the programme and the truth came out: he had returned all state property 24 hours after he received his official dismissal letter. His assertion was confirmed by the Transport Officer of GPA.
It is very possible that had Egbert not intervened to set the records straight, his residence might have been invaded by “angry” self-righteous citizens.
Anger
For three months in 1979, soldiers, in their “anger” over high prices, seized goods, stripped market women naked and caned them in public, the cane directed at their genitals, as the soldiers chanted “eye hann”.
In their anger, they bombed Makola market. Six Generals of the Supreme Military Council were blindfolded and shot at the firing range – one of them accused of taking a 50-cedi bank loan!
The government-backed rampages continued into the second coming of Flt Lt Rawlings (December 31 Holy War), when the executive class in the civil and public service were subjected to humiliation at the hands of People’s Defence Councils (PDCs) and Workers Defence Councils (WDCs).
What did their anger achieve? Nothing.
Violent eruptions
And now, back to the violent eruptions by “angry” NDC youth after the December 2024 elections. To be fair, President-elect Mahama, in a national address on Tuesday, December 10, condemned the acts of vandalism, calling for an immediate end to the attacks on state offices and installations.
But while he, before swearing-in, called on outgoing President Akufo-Addo to get the security agencies to act swiftly to restore law and order, President Mahama, after swearing-in, has not found words strong enough to deter the continuing violence.
The type of deterrent statement Ghanaians expect to hear from President Mahama is what political science lecturer, Prof. Ransford Gyampo, prescribed on January 17, 2017, to the then newly sworn-in Akufo-Addo as NPP supporters attacked public institutions such as NADMO, Youth Employment Agency, NHIS offices across the country, claiming “those offices have been filled with supporters of the NDC and we want them out”.
So petrified were NDC supporters at the time that the party’s youth wing threatened a peaceful march “to demonstrate our utter indignation and disgust about the new culture of lawlessness being introduced by the NPP since winning election in 2016.”
To all Ghanaians who have a voice but choose to sit on the fence now, I repeat the words of Martin Niemöller, the German Lutheran minister in 1945:
“First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist… then trade unionists…then the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
This week, media reported that the Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga was criticised by his fellow NDC members for apologising publicly to the NPP.
To Ayariga I say, you have my admiration for displaying such nobility of heart. Your apology in Parliament is the type of gesture that qualifies an MP for the title, ‘Honourable’.
The writer is Executive Director,
Centre for Communication and Culture.
E-mail: ashonenimil@gmail.com
