A few days ago, there was a National Day of Prayer. Led by President Mahama, speaker after speaker thanked God for the blessings bestowed on Ghana and exhorted us to the highest standards of citizenship. Then yesterday’s by-election came. There were open references to buying votes by both parties. Then there was the violence. We seem, as a nation, to be completely oblivious to the linkages between Electoral corruption and corruption in the rest of our society. If one can buy a Parliamentary seat– both at the primary and general election level–why can’t he sell contracts for roads and schools etc for private gain? Then there was the violence. Madam Hawa Koomson may be a very difficult person to empathize with because of her temperament etc. But her daylight assault by political thugs was unacceptable and clearly unlawful. It should have been stopped by the numerous law enforcement personnel there. And failing that, there should have been arrests of the thugs, together with the interdiction of the law enforcement officers who looked on. I understand Dr. Bissiw’s sentiments about the victim getting her just desserts. I know why Sam George asked Dr. Bawumia to keep quiet. However, despite the obvious hypocrisy of Dr. Bawumia and others, Ghana deserved better from our security forces. Dr. Bawumia’s silence and indifference while vigilantes of the NPP assaulted Dr. Bissiw, Sam George and others while President NADAA maintained a loud and shameful silence should not be our standard. A nation that permits its national institutions to be marshaled for the revenge and vendettas of individuals and groups will lose its national essence. An “eye for an eye” will leave us all blind eventually. The NDC leaders who marshaled the thugs and/or cheered them on should have remembered their own pain in the past and spoken up for justice and rule-of-law. The NPP leaders who are complaining hypocritically and talking about arming themselves for the future should have been thinking of their silence at Ayawaso and pledging to do better the next time they have power. I am speaking because I was not silent then. So now, I ask– WHERE IS THE PRESIDENT WHO WAS ELECTED TO CHANGE GHANA AND WAS SO ELOQUENT AT THE NATIONAL DAY PRAYER? Mr. President, you need to stop these cycles of violence and impunity. You need to be about reconciliation, not revenge. You should have called the police, not to direct arrests but to request accounting for their failures. If the police could not prevent violence in a few polling stations, how can we trust them to do so nationally? More people died in 2020 and 2024 than in the January 13th, 1972, Coup! As a Christian, your duty is to lead a reset to peace and Justice. Do God’s work. And where respectfully, are the religious leaders who were so eloquent at the inauguration and the prayer day? As Micah 7:3 says, “The powerful dictate what they desire, and they pervert justice”. Respectfully, let Cardinal Turkson, Imam Sharubutu, Archbishop Duncan-Williams and other religious leaders call out the hypocritical leaders who preach peace and practice violence, who preach virtue and practice vice. God bless Ghana. Arthur Kobina Kennedy (12th July, 2025)
Article By: Arthur Kobina Kennedy
