It's only a competition of ideas

We are just days away from the end of one of the most exciting presidential races since the inception of the 4th Republic in 1992. It is the first open-seat race since 1992, one with no presidential or vice presidential incumbent running. There is a disquieting sense of unknown, fretfulness and exigency running across Ghana as reported during the ‘Special Voting’ for essential services staff on Tuesday December 2, 2008. In a country where there is no known credible polling institution, it is difficult to establish who is in the lead and by what percentage margin except to rely on the previous elections results as guide to the outcome of the impending presidential election on December 7, 2008. With that acceptance as a general guideline, most people in Ghana today, consider Sunday's polls as a two-horse race between candidates of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP- Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC- Professor John Evans Atta Mills). A functional democracy is governed by the majority while protecting the rights of minorities. It is well known among advocates and practitioners of democracy that to achieve majority rule-minority rights-protection balance, a democracy relies on a competition of ideas, which, in turn, democracy is itself an incomplete and emergent political system, and must, by its nature, adapt to new ideas and evolving social standards. However, Ghana’s democracy is still in its embryonic stage hence weaker and thus politicians take the average electorates for granted in terms of ideas. Politics is about what we should do together, a question that demands that a choice be made. Politicians do not merely suggest options; they are proponents of a certain set of priorities. As members of modern democracies, we share values, but, because they conflict, we prioritize them differently. We are divided by our commonalities. Democracy is an irresolvable contest of priorities among common values. Were we able to remove all the sources of venality, stupidity, and nastiness in politics, democracy would still cleave in familiar ways. To illustrate this point, just take a couple of minutes to view the accompanying picture and a give your verdict on what you think it represents contrary to what others believe. You think it is a FROG and I think it is a GECKO!

wait a while

Moral : We have to respect each other's opinion; you can see it clearly in the above picture. We just need to wait and listen actively to others' points of view! No drop of blood (remember symbolises life) should be shed in the name of election. It is only a competition of ideas in which those who manage to articulate and present theirs vividly win. The essence of any competition is not only to win but also the determination to finish without which it is not a competition. Otherwords it becomes like playing 'oware' with ananse and winning. It should never be said of Ghana after December 7, 2008 that a vanquished candidate has become AFRICAN ALSO-RAN. And let both the winner and losers be magnanimous in all their utterances and actions so that prevailing uneasy calm and suspicion will wither away while the real work of consolidating the little gains we have strived to make is dealt with decisively. Have a productive working day!!