There is this adage I love so much. It says, “Cows are trapped by their horns, and men trapped by their tongue.” In effect, people are admonished to be careful of what they say today as their words may expose them tomorrow.
Today is exactly two weeks since my compatriots and I freely and peacefully went to the polls to decide who to lead us for the next four years. The will of the majority of the electorate on the face of the pink sheets was an overwhelming endorsement of President Nana Dee. He beat his nearest competitor, Mr. Dead Goat, with over 500,000 votes.
Mr. Dead Goat has however refused to accept defeat claiming the results were rigged. Fourteen days on and the man is yet to provide counter results to the officially declared results by the Electoral Commission (EC). The man who claims to be a peaceful politician has ironically encouraged his party folks to resort to violent street protests, instead of going to court to seek redress.
Am I surprised? Certainly not! Some of us have all along known he and his party folks were only acting according to a script. A script he authored in 2016 when he was President. We knew the constant vilification of the EC and the persistent acts to reduce its credibility in the eyes of the public were attempts to create an excuse to reject the 2020 polls when they eventually lose.
Listen to him reading out the script in 2016, “Vilify the referee and reduce the credibility of the referee in the eyes of the public when you can tell you are losing the match. This creates the platform where when you lose to discredit and contest the outcome of the match. This is the underlining cause for all the whining that is taking place against the EC at every step of the electoral process.”
I do understand the pain Mr. Dead Goat is going through. When he looks at the physical, psychological and financial stress he has endure during the years of campaigning, he tends to wonder how he can cope with such stress in another electioneering campaign. It is the reason he cannot come to terms with his second consecutive loss to President Nana Dee.
General Ntontom and the other national executives of the Umbrella are also riding on the wings of deception to avoid being blamed by their folks for the party’s defeat in the presidential election. Indeed, we saw how some national executives of the party were nearly beaten at the party’s headquarters following the humiliating defeat in 2016. So it makes sense if the current party leadership wants to maintain the ‘stolen verdict’ story to save face.
One thing is clear: The current Zu-za leadership is lying through its teeth to maintain its position at the detriment of the party. The party’s strong showing in the parliamentary polls is an indication that the party has potential for 2024. But trust me, urging party folks to engage in hooliganism, such as burning tyres on the streets and burning markets in the dark, will not endear the party to the public.
One needs tact and wisdom to manage an electoral defeat because the consequence cannot be overlooked. A wise leader manages a defeat to his party’s advantage as President Atta Mills and President Nana Dee did in 2004 and 2012 respectively. While a desperate and foolish leader will take the vandalism and hooliganism route as we are seeing today.
My compatriots and I know a flawed election when we see one. So we do not need a Dead Goat desperately seeking resurrection to tell us which election is flawed and which isn’t. If “twenty-seven zero” votes could be equated to “two hundred and seventy” votes in 2012 – which Mr. Dead Goat won, what makes him think the 2020 polls can be described as flawed?
As for those who foolishly go on the streets to engage in hooliganism and vandalism, let them be reminded that those who will benefit directly from Mr. Dead Goat’s victory are indoors enjoying, while they are being beaten by the security forces on the streets. Indeed, is it not ironic that while the naive demonstrators were enduring the tear gas and hot water from the security forces at the EC headquarters, Sedinam Tamakloe and other former Zu-za appointees were enjoying at the former’s birthday party?
If only Mr. Dead Goat and his ilk will wake up and smell the coffee! The horse has already left the stable, so desperately shutting the door is an exercise in futility.
See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo volente!