“He who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool” (Poem by Woodrow Lucas).
When you follow recent debates on the Ghana/USA Defense pact and the arrest of the NDC “Tarzan” Mr. Koku Anyidoho, the statement that “for lack of knowledge my people perish”(Hosea 4:6) is descriptive of recent events. For lack of knowledge, we have made fools of ourselves before our nation, Africa and the rest of the world. The debates on these two events have taken the political trajectory and have reached such ridiculous levels that those who have participated and sustained it have not only made a laughing stock of themselves but also have demonstrated their mediocrity. The public discourse, the weird interpretations and the hatred that has engulfed the discussions have polluted the atmosphere and denied the public an honest assessment and implications of the pact. The point is that the fears of the public are baseless because under the NDC, a similar pact existed and nothing happened to any Ghanaian neither did Ghanaians see any American soldier on our soil misbehaving. So why are people thinking that by this arrangement we have surrendered our sovereignty? Did NDC surrender our sovereignty by signing the 2015 pact? Simply put, those making the noise are pursuing NDC propaganda.
The careless remarks that led to the arrest of Mr. Koku Anyidoho, to me, is partly indiscipline, because any disciplined person will not make such irresponsible statements, all in the name of freedom of speech. This is not the first time he has demonstrated this characteristic and I feel so sad, ashamed and embarrassed because his father is a friend of mine, a retired General and of course, very disciplined. There are many hard working young men and women of Koku’s age who are humble, disciplined and respected in our society simply because some of them had the privilege of living in the barracks with their parents or relations. Most of them whom I know, appreciate the discipline that was imbibed in them during their youthful days at the barracks. Examples are many but permit me to mention only one that readily comes to mind, Mr. Kwame Sefa Kaye, a living testimony.
So what happened to Koku’s discipline? Has it been thrown to the dogs for political expediency? Yes, it could be because the rewards for such unaccepted behavior are great and juicy in the NDC. Some young men in the NDC who demonstrated such characteristics recently and were described by their Founder as “babies with sharp teeth’’ were handsomely rewarded with ministerial positions when the NDC came to power. Today, we have the new breed of “babies with sharp teeth” in the name of Koku Anyidoho, Sammy Gyamfi, Asafo Adjei, Kwaku Boahene, Brogya Gyamfi and others who may harbor such ambitions. The floodlights incident in Kumasi Stadium during a football match sometime ago showed how Koku loves power. The demise of President Mills demagnetized him, he hibernated, resurfaced later and found out that his power had evaporated. With his Godfather gone, he has no choice but to build his own image to become relevant in the scheme of things in the NDC. Ghanaians should therefore not be surprised but brace themselves up for more of such tantrums as we approach 2020 general elections.
The NDC has been out of power for only one year and four months but the bitterness in them, the anger in seeing President Akufo-Addo as President of Ghana and the urgent desire to return to power have turned them into desperate souls. The remaining two years and eight months of NPP’s rule is proving to be a living hell for some members of the NDC to the extent that if something tragic were to happen, it would be celebrated. Yes, the guys are desperate and capable of doing anything and Koku’s behavior is a description of this desperation. Has Koku committed any treasonable offence? On the face of it, one could simply say NO and some legal brains have hurriedly expressed their opinions but I think it is worth investigating.
The history of coups in this country has established that almost all coups have been supported and financed by some civilians who went into hiding and awaited the results. Koku belongs to a party which has been in power for eight years, and I believe have money and are capable of financing a coup. On the military side, it is alleged that when NDC took over eight years ago, recruitments, promotions and placements of officers and men, favored two tribes against the rest in Ghana Armed Forces – favoritism based on ethnicity and politics took commanding heights in promotions and placements in the officer corps. Prior to 2016 elections, major appointments, promotions and postings that took place, favored officers from the two tribes. The objective at the time was to place these officers in strategic positions to enable them assist the NDC to retain power in the event of any disturbances after the elections. Koku’s threat could be viewed from this perspective that many of these officers still retain their command positions currently and could readily respond to the call of their benefactors(NDC).Koku does not need to show his physical presence or possess arms and ammunition to prove his intent. There-in lies the danger of his reckless comments and it should not be taken for granted. This is the price Ghana is paying for politicizing the Armed Forces. His threat should be thoroughly investigated and if there is no iota of truth he should be reprimanded and set free.
The hypocrisy being demonstrated by the NDC is amazing and shows that the Party and its leadership cannot be trusted and taken seriously in Ghanaian politics. Today, the same people who are demonizing the USA are the very people who are queuing for ‘green cards’ and sending their children to study in the USA. There is enough documentary evidence to prove that the whole saga of some defense cooperation with the USA started during ex-President Rawlings era and hyped by ex-President Mahama but surprisingly he has developed cold feet and prefers to remain silent. It is no longer a secret that ex-President Mahama begged for the establishment of a military base and as part of the incentives to appease the USA, accepted two “Gitmo” terrorists to‘hide’ in Ghana without the knowledge of Ghanaians. If ex-President Mahama breaks his silence, all the noise NDC is making will stop but he is enjoying it and hypocritically urging his people on to score cheap political points to pursue his ambition of becoming a President again. Oh, what a STATESMAN!
I know some of the people who joined the demonstration do not support Koku’s statement but for the impending elections in NDC, they want to be counted. The other reason is that for 2020 elections, NDC lacks serious issues to challenge NPP and therefore trivial issues seem very important to them to hang on and therefore this will not die soon.
The only “mistake” of the NPP was to expose the document for Parliamentary approval. The most interesting thing is that in Parliament, the two Committees namely, Defense / Interior and Constitutional / Legal Affairs made up of 23 members, NDC (13) and NPP (10), unanimously endorsed the pact. Surprisingly, the NDC MPs joined the demonstration against the signing of the document and such people are called“ HONOURABLE”? The argument that Ghana has surrendered its sovereignty to the US is laughable, myopic and unintelligent. Our neighboring former French territories continue to keep some French Forces on their territories after independence but they are not seen as having surrendered their sovereignty to France. Ghana has no active threats along its borders but the discovery of major oil and gas deposits along its borders pose a major threat especially when border disputes exist. Military alliances among nations therefore serve as deterrent to would be adversaries. In combating threats facing nations, some demonstrate their military power, others use diplomacy whilst some enter into military alliances. Deterrence serves to convince its target not to carry out the intended action because of the costs and losses that target would incur from the nation or its allies. International defense pacts in some countries are therefore not for public consumption simply because of some silly criticisms they could be subjected to as being experienced in Ghana. The President throws more light on the issue and it energizes the critics but that should not be surprising because “no matter how majestic the chick dances, the hawk will not be amused.”Let me remind the NDC that the next election will not be contested on this defense pact no matter how relevant they try to make it.
The world suffers a lot not because of the VIOLENCE of bad people but because of the SILENCE of good people.’’ (Napoleon).
By Brigadier-General (Rtd) J. Odei