Ghana: the left wing strikes back
The last thing that Castle (PNDC headquarters) wanted to admit was that there was such a serious conflict within the ranks of the inner circle of the revolution seeing that the Tsikatas are known to move together...A classic case of media management is being played out in Ghana, conducted by Mrs Valerie Sackey who signs herself as the head of Information at the Castle. It has taken her very considerable talents to try to hide from the Ghanaian public the big parting of ways between Flight-Lieutenant J.J. Rawlings and many of his friends over a most fundamental matter.
There are a few points that are not in dispute. A statement was read at the Accra Community Centre to the Press last week, which was quite critical of Flt-Lt. Rawlings and what was seen as the direction of the "December 31 process". Critical though the statement was, that was not what alarmed the Castle as much as the signatories to the statement and more particularly, the identity of the person who read the statement. For it was read by Mr Fui Tsikata, Senior lecturer in Law at the University of Ghana.
Mr Fui Tsikata happens to be one of a triumvirate of Tsikatas who have been most passionate in their support of Flt-Lt. Rawlings and his various undertakings in the past almost four years. The other two being Mr Tsatsu Tsikata, younger brother of Fui and also a Senior lecturer in Law at Legon, which duo are usually credited with lending the 'intellectual prop' to the revolution. The third being their big cousin, ex-Capt. Kodjo Tsikata, Special Advisor to the PNDC and Head of Security who is normally credited with having utilised his guile and some say, ruthlessness, to keep the PNDC in power.
The last thing that the Castle wanted to admit was that there was such a serious conflict within the ranks of the inner circle of the revolution. Seeing that the Tsikatas are known to move together it would be difficult for anybody to believe that Mr Fui Tsikata would launch such a major attack on PNDC policy without support from Mr Tsatsu Tsikata and Capt. Kod Tsikata.
Mrs Sackey therefore went into action and took the most unusual step of writing to the press houses to stop the publication of the story. The People's Daily Graphic of January 2 1985 did carry the story, however, even though everybody but a seer would have been hard put to it recognising the publication as the same statement the one read by Mr Fui Tsikata at the Accra Community Centre.
Luckily there were other media people at the press conference, over whom Mrs Sackey has no control and the AFP the French News Agency for example, filed a story and The Times of London carried a shorter version. We publish below, the Time story and the People's Daily Graphic’s published version. When we get a full copy of the original statement, we shall publish it for the benefit of our readers.
It might be pointed out that Mr Fui Tsikata who read the statement was not mentioned at all in the Graphic story. But they did mention Father Joop Visser, a Dutch Roman Catholic priest - the good Father came to fame in 1978/79 for his work in his parish in Madina, a suburb of Accra. He is said to believe in liberation theology and was very concerned about the plight of the poor in his parish. He identified himself very much with the first coup of Flt-Lt. Rawlings in June 1979. After the handover to ex-President Limann his brand of theology was found by the authorities to be irritating and he was deported by Limann for interfering in the internal affairs of Ghana. When Flt-Lt. Rawlings seized power a second time, he asked Father Visser to come back and he has, until now, been one of the strongest supporters of the Flight-Lieutenant.
The other named signatory, Mr Karikari, was one of the earliest people to jump on the bandwagon of the December 31 coup. He was awarded for his enthusiasm by being appointed a Director-General of Ghana Broadcasting Corporation. In September last year, however, he was asked to go back to the University of Ghana, whence he came, "to strengthen the teaching staff" in one of the moves that was widely interpreted as clipping the wings of the revolutionaries and bringing in traditionalists or to employ Mr G. Adali Morty's words, 'bringing in sanity'.
I shall leave any comments on the contents of Mr Fui Tsikata's statement till later when more information is available about those who constitute the 'disaffected ones' (the first stage to becoming dissidents, I am told).
In the meantime, it is possibly worthwhile to quote what can only be very strange words attributed to Dr Kwasi Botchway the Secretary for Finance and Economic Planning, who joined the revolution was one of the leaders of the left wing on the University of Ghana and used to be very scathing about IMF, World Bank and other such organisations. He was quoted as saying: "I have been criticised by elements on the left, and in the same vein, I have been praised by right-wing elements for abandoning Marxism. Leaving aside the personal and subjective elements in this question, the real question is what should a Marxist do faced with the real situation in Ghana, the monetary, and fiscal situation, the condition of the various sectors of the economy, the objective of feeding the people, the living conditions of the masses of the people, not from the point of view of any ideal conditions existing in one's head, but the real conditions on the ground.
I think the concern that is expressed by these Left elements comes from a very fundamental misunderstanding of Marxism, which I understand to be a guide to scientific practice. The matter is not helped any by dogmatic positions or ideal solutions that ignore or run away from the real situation on the ground..."
There seems to be a lot of excitement among the 'left-wing thinkers' that finally something was being done about what they saw as a betrayal of the revolution. A few weeks ago an un- signed statement arrived in the offices of Talking Drums from a group called United Revolutionary Front of Ghana (URF). The statement in tone sounded very much like the one by Mr Fui Tsikata, it also accused Flt-Lt Rawlings of having betrayed the December 31 revolution. It sounds like the left-wing is striking back.
Mr Rawlings: Under fire from former allies
The Times, London
Rawlings accused of betraying revolution
Accra (AFP) The Ghanaian Leader, Flight- Lieutenant, Jerry Rawlings, has been attacked by former left-wing supporters for his recent political and economic policies.A statement read here by Mr Fui Tsikata, a law lecturer and aide to Mr Rawlings, was especially critical of the increasing role of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in determining national economic policy.
In the strongest public reaction so far to the Rawlings recovery programme, the statement said the Government has abandoned the ideals of the revolution by following the directives of the IMF and World Bank.
Last month the bank agreed to lend Ghana $415 million (£360 million), after the Government instituted IMF backed measures, including three unpopular devaluations, and price increases of consumer goods.
People's Daily Graphic
Public reaction criticised
In a statement released yesterday by representatives of the New Democratic Movement, some members of the Catholic Graduates for Action and some individuals including Father Joop Visser, concern was expressed at the lack of public reaction to certain government decisions of last December. The signatories indicated their misgivings about the apparent demoralisation of CDRS brought about by consistent attacks on their weaknesses, the penetration of their ranks by powerful social groups of the old order, and the manner in which their restructuring was announced.The rejoicing of forces opposed to the true aims of the Revolution was, they said, proof that this decision, instead of bringing about qualitative improvement, is damaging to the basic organs of participatory democracy.
The statement warned of the consolidation of forces of reaction, and expressed concern about a number of recent changes which, in their view, take decision-making opportunities away from the people. Economic measures were criticised as being too traditional and designed to please the IMF and World Bank.
"We should rather be disturbed and cautious where imperialist economic interests are happy with our economic measures, "the statement said, adding that too much of our foreign exchange is squandered.
Statement by United Revolutionary Front of Ghana
An extract from a seven- page unsigned diatribe against the Rawlings regime issued by the front on the third anniversary of the 31st December coup.Today marks the third anniversary of the military coup of 31st December 1981, a coup which inaugurated the bitterest and most intense social struggles in Ghana's history.
It has been a period of very important changes. Above all, this period has witnessed the most dramatic, the most amazing and indeed the most shameless U-turn' of any government not only in Ghana's history, but in all post-independence African history. Never before has a government so totally turned its back on its origins, initial objectives and social base. The nearest contemporary parallel in this respect is the regime of General Doe in Liberia.
Yet Rawlings' sell-out remains unique, partly because of the sophistication with which it has been carried; for, even today whilst the true character of the regime has become crystal clear to all Ghanaian workers and to keen observers of events in Ghana, it is still possible to find a number of genuinely confused progressives alongside the left-wing opportunists who continue to proclaim the so-called progressive character of the regime in Ghana.
Thus, while Rawlings, in his life and death battle against his real enemies, the left-wing in the December 31st process, found it essential to present himself and his faction to the workers and international progressive circles as the truly revolutionary one, confronted by 'counter-revolutionaries' hiding within the 'revolution' (the charges of 'ultra-leftism', 'anarchism', 'moving faster than the process', etc, did not emerge until much later, when it became clear that the masses had begun to discern the real truth, and Rawlings own pretensions to revolution were now very much openly in question). But on the other hand, his petty-bourgeois rivals also seized upon this attempt to project the image of the 'true revolutionary' by Rawlings to say they were the only safe representatives of bourgeois rule in Ghana. Rawlings, they argued, should not be trusted by the outside (imperialist) world. This apparent congruence of interests between the two rival petty-bourgeois factions merely reflects the fact that both want to achieve essentially the same goal - a neo-colonialist capitalist economy fully integrated into the world capitalist economic system as envisaged by the International Monetary (IMF)/World Bank.
But who are the real enemies of the Rawlings regime? They have been, and will remain, the working class and its allies as well as the progressive organisations who refused to join in the deceitful, fraudulent and cynical betrayal of the interests of the Ghanaian masses. To reiterate, the struggle was between those who wanted to advance the interests of the Ghanaian working people along a truly revolutionary path and those against this; those who wanted to create the necessary conditions for the masses to fulfil their aspirations and those who wanted to mortgage Ghana's economy to Imperialism under the IMF supervision.
It is against this background that we have to understand how a PNDC, brought to power on the crest of a popular wave and revolutionary fervour, is implementing the most reactionary, destructive economic programme in Ghana's history. It is also why since the crisis of October- November 1982 when revolutionary forces suffered some the reverses, the working class have suffered a series of political setbacks, and whilst the rhetoric of the regime still proclaims revolution as its goal, it has reacted to every perceived threat; every crisis, every new situation by lurching further to the right, and further from the working people.
Thus in analysing events in Ghana, it is important to identify the PNDC of 1982 (PNDC I), which in itself was neither a democratically runbody, nor one capable of providing genuine revolutionary leadership, but at least included some genuine revolutionary forces, and PNDC II which emerged as it a result of the crisis in which the revolutionary aspect of December 31st was abandoned. No wonder the PNDC II has emerged as a body dominated by the most ferocious enemies of the working people.
The social consequences of the Rawlings betrayal are immediately obvious: the destruction of all social services on a scale never dreamt of even by the previous darlings boys of the IMF - Council the National Liberation (NLC) Busia administrations. The educational policy of the PNDC II is: EDUCATION, A PRIVILEGE, NOT A RIGHT'. As the IMF tightens its grip over the economy more and more firmly, thanks to PNDC II, the poor must say goodbye to ever seeing their children educated (only the very rich can enjoy this. 'privilege'). Whilst Kwesi Botchwey and his like are loosening their belt
Meanwhile...
The Ministry of Information has suspended the publication of the weekly newspaper, the Ghanaian Voice, accusing it of distorting news and in many other instances fabricating stories. In a statement the Ministry said it has taken a very serious view of this and cannot allow such a mischievous brand of journalism, which is prejudicial to the national interest to continue. The statement issued by the Under Secretary for Information Kofi Totobi Quakye said the Ministry has accordingly ordered the immediate suspension of the publication of the Ghanaian Voice till further notice.Some observers have expressed surprise at the closure of the Ghanaian Voice because the paper has been the same - its nearest equivalent in British newspapers being The Sun without the Page 3 Girls. The Voice has not been known to pay undue attention to detail, fact or substance, but then most of its stories have been largely supportive of the PNDC.
The cartoons in the paper have ranged from the obvious, the propagandist to the obscene. The Voice is - was a weekly and the issue dated January 21-27 had a banner headline: 'VICTOR, LIMANN people too? OTHERS TO BE INVITED?...For National Government Discussion'. In an accompanying story which carried photographs of Victor Owusu, Dr Hilla Limann and Col (rtd) Bernasko, the paper said that "past political leaders like Victor Owusu, Dr Hilla Limann, Col. F.G. Bernasko, Dr John Bilson, Alhaji Imoru Ayana, Alex Hamah and others may be invited to come forward to share their views with the PNDC.
The paper started the story with: "We are still searching. We are still looking for an end to political instability in this country. Isn't it a shame that after 25 years of independence, Ghana still doesn't have a political system?
Starting from John Stockwell's 'In Search of Enemies' coup, we have had many civilian regimes as military and yet there is no solution in sight.
So Mr Justice Daniel Francis Annan, a member of the PNDC and Chairman of the National Commission for Democracy, which has been charged with the singular task of fashioning a durable and everlasting political system for this country has said that 'we are going to mount a review of our political past and we are going to invite people who were concerned with the political evolution to come forward and share their views with us'. He said this in an interview with Africasia magazine, January issue. Africasia: Does this mean the ordinary people too?
Mr Justice Annan: The ordinary people and the political leaders.
Mr Justice Annan was then quoted as saying that in the quest for a new political direction, 'we want to move away from political and ideological labels. At the beginning of the revolution, there was the same attraction for Marxism as there had been for Nkrumah in the early days of his revolution, but the same thing has happened. There is a movement away from Marxism as a foundation of our revolution. This, I think, is the right direction'."
Some observers have stated that the Ghanaian Voice has been banned not because it has done anything different from what it has normally done but as part of the general assault on the 'left wing ideas' that Mr Fui Tsikata was complaining about.
The Ghanaian Voice was seen as a supporter of the 'Tsikata faction' and the ban might be only one more evidence of the waning of the Tsikata star.
The Voice was edited by Mr Dan K. Ansah as Managing Editor. He and Mr Prince Ebo Godwin had started the Punch, a paper not unlike the Voice, and which paper had played both sides of the coin once too often leading to Mr Godwin having to flee the country after the December 31, 1981 coup to Togo, from where he was believed to have been helping to edit the Voice (some say the new Punch) with his friend Dan Ansah.
