To say that Ghanaian politics has descended to the dogs – literally, is not besides the point. Politics in GH now is what I choose to call gutter politics. It is indeed gutter politics because when a game is played in the gutter, no one thinks of the dirt he will accumulate because everybody gets dirty right and there is no pride or reputation to be lost or protected right.
pressure group on a march
Remember the days we used to play gutter-to-gutter socks ball? Well if you didn’t play that game at least you went fishing in the gutter or play in the sand with your friends right? That is what our politicians are now engaged in…period!
Now to the dirty business of so-called ‘Pressure Groups’. Frankly, I don’t know where the term ‘pressure group’ germinated from but I can tell you for a fact that both the term and the people to whom it applies are bogus. In fact, they are a bunch of happy people who are just craving for attention to score some political advantage.
Have you noticed how they operate? They spring up out of the blue and die almost immediately without a gasp. They are usually comprised of members of the opposition political party. They have a strong desire to annex power and their best bet is to parade their camouflaged parochial interest in the full glare of the public as showing concern for the plight of the people of the country.
Take for instance the Committee for Joint Action (CJA). The group, as far as I can tell, never existed until somewhere after the former President Kufuor assumed office. The group was notorious for staging street protests, notably demonstrations. They huffed and puffed about everything and nothing.
It must however be noted that sometimes these so-called ‘pressure groups’ really do fight for causes which are in the public interest. But then again, one must not lose sight of the fact that these groups take advantage of the public’s quest to hold government accountable and threaten to break hell lose if the government of the day fails to deliver a particular service.
I know the CJA will not be happy with this but the truth is, the group went into hibernation almost immediately as Kufuor’s term of office ended. I am yet to see or hear of any CJA street march since Prof. Mills took office in January 2009. And it is perfectly logical. Don’t forget that nearly a third or half of the CJA members and executives comprised NDC members some of who are now Ministers of State like my good friend, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa. So how can they hit the streets when they have ‘more pressing national matters’ to attend to.
Well absence they say makes the heart grow fonder and it appears Ghanaians might have missed the ‘charismatic rescue mission’ of the CJA so another group has taken over. They call themselves the Alliance For Accountable Governance (AFAG). Like the CJA, AFAG has a predominantly NPP make up in its membership and executive make up. Personally, I never heard of this group when Mr. Kufuor was in office so I guess I am right to assume that they also came into being through the big bang theory just like the CJA.
AFAG since its arrival in the political limelight has seen almost everything wrong with the Mills administration. But again, that is the ‘pressure group’ style right? So why blame AFAG when CJA did same. In recent times, AFAG has opposed the increase in utility tariff,a cause which was sympathetically received by all and sundry because man, we were all going to feel the pinch one way or the other.
But the recent outburst of the group, calling for the resignation of the Inspector General of Police, leaves one speechless…at least momentarily. At a hurriedly arranged press conference yesterday, the group said the IGP is in no position to keep the peace especially during the upcoming elections in 2012 and it was important he sat up or got himself kicked out. They claim the violent conduct which characterized the recent by-election at Atiwa in the Eastern region and the manner in which the Police personnel detailed to keep the peace misconducted themselves have made it imperative for the Mr. Tawiah Quaye to resign.
AFAG also said the open bias of the police personnel against supporters of the opposition NPP at Atiwa is enough grounds to get the Inspector General of Police Paul Tawiah out of the service, because his continues occupation of the seat will not augur well for the 2012 elections.
So why would a group which is fighting for the rights of everyone base their calls for the resignation of the IGP only on the reported abuse of members of only one political party when two parties accused each other of intimidation and violent attacks? So now you understand me when I say these so-called ‘pressure groups’ are doing the ‘dirty’ bidding of their political masters? Let’s see if the AFAG will prove to be more than a nine-day wonder and continue to pile pressure even when the NPP comes back to power. Until that happens, I say they are all the same.
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