Last week, in the heat of the Wontumi arrest and prolonged detention brouhaha, Ghana’s democracy was put to the test once more.
Democracy of course has undergone assortments of tests, the verdict for which are too clear to be disputed. We still have a long way to go in our democratic journey. That is not to say however that a one-party system or a dictatorship is a better option.
We must strive to perfect democracy in our circumstances. There is more room for improvement as it is said.
It came to pass that a politician/businessman, Bernard Antwi-Boasiako was arrested by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and a bail of GH¢50 million granted him. The execution of the bail turned out to be challenging given the amount involved.
The Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin described the amount as excessive. Some persons even quoted an aspect of the constitution which demands that bails should not be excessive and out of the reach of persons being held.
The foregone constitutes one of the bits and pieces which stretches our democracy and even giving it a bad name so it can be hanged at the marketplace.
Politics in Ghana is taking the shape of retaliation. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) is doing unto the New Patriotic Party (NPP) what, according to them, their people endured under the latter’s regime. This is their turn too to seek their pound of flesh.
Now NPP foot soldiers, including others outside that echelon, have promised to visit onto the NDC when their party takes its turn at governance.
If such retaliatory actions are not giving democracy a bad name, we do not know what else is.
Former Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, after going through all arrangements to visit detained Chairman Wontumi at his holding centre, turned up only to be disappointed.
As if that was not bad enough, he turned up at another location where he was yet again disappointed.
Are we a nation where former leaders must be denied courtesies? We are referring to a personality who is the immediate past flagbearer of one of the two leading political parties, who will still present himself as a candidate in the next elections in the country.
We saw the rudeness some police officers exuded when the former Vice President showed up at one of the locations to see the Ashanti Regional NPP Chairman. They have forgotten all too soon about the man who was the Chairman of the Police Council and could be the next President of the Republic of Ghana.
When the authorities found their thinking caps, they called the former Vice President and gave him a 30-minute access to Chairman Wontumi.
That was not before a picture was circulated about how during the tenure of the NPP, then former President John Mahama and an NDC delegation was allowed access to Koku Anyidoho at the time he was being held for treason.
All we are saying is: let us avoid being hypocritical and give democracy a chance to blossom in this country. The manner our former Vice President was treated demands apology from the authorities.