Ghana elections: The people are the winners!

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi


I have always said and still maintain that Ghana is one of the most beautiful countries on this planet called earth, but it can be made better.

On Sunday December 7, 2008, Ghanaians voted. As I write this piece on Monday, the results are trickling in. Some of the confirmed results though are interesting and to a large extent revealing, because some of the Members of Parliament who are political dinosaurs or some choose to call them heavyweights have been beaten in their own backyards, in some instances, by political novices.

These developments are interesting, but the most interesting for me, is the conduct of the elections in general. Ghanaians are a great people! And they love and cherish peace.

As a journalist whose duty led me to cover some polling stations to witness the voting and watch the ballots being counted, I feel so honoured to be a Ghanaian.

The process generally went on smoothly, people stayed in the queues and waited for their turn to vote. Some centres though, jammed by eager voters as early as 4:00am became empty before the close of voting.

The isolated cases of some minor altercations were reported, but they had no significant impact on the conduct of the elections.

Ghanaians have shown to the world again that, we are matured, responsible and progressive minded. But where does the tension come from?

I can only imagine one source. Greedy, power hungry politicians! Yes. Most of them a class of empty headed blokes whose only perceived legitimate right to hold claim to political power is their bloated ego, so called connections, political lineage and in some instances, ill gotten money.

These are the lot who pollute the media, using their corrupt allies whose only interest is not the public good but filthy lucre.

They abuse the intelligence of the unsuspecting public by lying through their teeth about almost everything they say. They manipulate and misinform the public through the media and by that they create unnecessary tension, leading to violence in some cases.

These politicians by and large have nothing to lose but well, some things to gain.

As everyone, including the rest of the world wait for the final declaration of results, there is nothing so far to indicate that there would be trouble, except the meaningless vituperations of some obtuse politicians who are making wild allegations and claims about results.

Thankfully, the good people of Ghana are discerning and they would not take to the streets.

Bravo Ghana! Long Live the great people of Ghana! No matter, which group of politicians wins this elections, you the people of Ghana are the winners!