Whose true democracy?
A whole succession of people have, since December 31, 1981 told Ghanaians what is meant by 'true democracy'. How is anyone to know that the definition by the latest member of the PNDC, Justice D.F. Annan deserves to be accorded any respect or credibility? By a correspondent.Right from December 31, 1981, Ghanaians have been promised that their society will be transformed into one that practises "true democracy".
Flight-Lieutenant Rawlings himself who launched the 'Holy War' said on the day that he would be introducing various measures that would ensure that 'true democracy' reigns in the country. Nobody had any idea what this 'true democracy' looks or sounds like but Flt-Lt. Rawlings assured everybody it was the paradise on earth all human beings have been striving for since the beginning of time.
One thing he was sure of was that the government he had overthrown was not democratic. People were to trust him to do the decent thing and lead the country into 'true democracy' asking no questions.
Every once in a while he considered it worthwhile to give glimpses of what the 'true democracy' will be like. Look at Colonel Gaddafy's Libya, Flt.-Lt. Rawlings has said on occasion, that is 'true democracy', that is what we are aspiring towards.
Recently it has been Fidel Castro's Cuba that is supposed to be the land of 'true democracy' which Ghana should emulate. As a consequence about 600 Ghanaian children have been sent off to Cuba to understudy first hand the workings of this 'true democracy' to come and be the future leaders of Ghana.
On occasion, the Peoples Defence Committees and Workers Defence Committees that had been set up were held out as examples of the workings of 'true democracy'. Now Flt-Lt. Rawlings himself has said that the role of the PDCs and WDCS has changed, the PDCs and WDCs these days no longer play the vigilantes, they have become more involved in agriculture and construction projects. Admirable definitely though agriculture and construction projects are and the cleaning up of neighbourhood gutters is, nobody can claim that such people or actions are new in Ghana or represent new democratic structures.
Every little village in Ghana has always organised once weekly communal work - be it in agriculture or building of health projects or cleaning up of gutters and if that is what the PDCS and WDCS are doing, that is hardly new and can lay no claims to being an arm of 'true democracy' unless, of course, Flt.-Lt. Rawlings is ready to admit that he had absolutely nothing new to offer Ghana and was only interested in personal power.
Yet others have insisted that 'true democracy' is possible only when the lift-operators in the country's premier teaching hospital have a say in the ordering of drugs and equipment for the hospital. Needless to point out that the greater majority of these exponents of 'true democracy' are currently in exile from the paradise on earth they were creating in Ghana.
A whole succession of people have also since December 31, 1981, attempted to tell Ghanaians and the world what is meant by 'true democracy', some, like Joachim Amartey Kwei, explained 'true democracy' in a most indelible way by murdering High Court judges. Others, again chosen by Flt.-Lt. Rawlings, saw the manifestation of 'true democracy' in closing the country's universities and beating up priests in the churches. Yet still others saw this 'true democracy' in terms of closing down all privately-owned primary schools without making any arrangements for the expansion of the state-owned schools.
Others have said that 'true democracy' means that the state owned newspapers should do the propaganda of the ruling Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC).
Yet others have insisted that 'true democracy' is possible only when the lift-operators in the country's premier teaching hospital have a say in the ordering of drugs and equipment for the hospital.Needless to point out that the greater majority of these exponents of 'true democracy' are currently in exile from the paradise on earth they were creating in Ghana.
Now a new entrant on the scene, retired Justice D.F. Annan, in his new position as a member of the PNDC and head of the National Commission on Democracy (known in non-true democratic terms as Electoral Commission) has also started putting forth theories on 'true democracy'.
He says that the creation of the PNDC is not the final shape of Government the December 31 process seeks to achieve. Most surprising is that he should imagine that anybody but him and his bosses in the PNDC think that the PNDC even looks like an acceptable form of government for the people.
The inclusion of people like Justice D.F. Annan in the PNDC is supposed to show the 'new pragmatic Flt.-Lt. Rawlings' that does not antagonise what he had been calling the enemy class. It is supposed to be part of the reconciliation process - Judges are no longer being abducted and killed, they are now part of the government.
But then Justice D.F. Annan, even during his days on the bench, had a peculiar attitude towards the concept of individual rights. As Judge. Advocate on the panel that concluded the first subversion trial in the Acheampong regime, he ruled as a point of law that the fact that an accused person was, or might have been tortured to obtain a statement was of no consequence to the acceptability or otherwise of such a statement.
It should be interesting for the good judge, retired though he might be now, to indicate at what point exactly he got this concept of 'true democracy' did it come from his years on the bench or in business or as a member of the Boxing Board of Control or at the orientation courses given before a person becomes an accepted member of the new establishment in Ghana?
How are Ghanaians to know that his concept of 'true democracy' that he is about to establish will not become 'inoperative' in a few months or years time when he too, like others before him, fall out of favour with Flt.-Lt. Rawlings?
Not once in the past two and a half years has Flt.-Lt. Rawlings indicated that any member of his regime was saying or doing anything, but the correct thing, and yet they have fallen by the wayside repeatedly. How is anyone to know that Justice D.F. Annan will fare any better or longer and therefore deserves to be accorded any respect at all?
