The notion that the so-called peaceful nature of Ghanaians is an antidote to violence during elections, is an illusion, says Dr Baffour Agyeman-Duah, the former executive director of Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana).
In his recently published memoir, titled, ?My Ghanaian Odyssey?A Rendezvous with History?, to be launched tomorrow, Dr. Agyeman-Duah recalls chilling accounts of how Ghana was on the brink of a possible civil strife due to the machinations of political forces that were desperate for power.
Dr. Agyeman-Duah was an active participant and observer in all the goings-on during those periods and he could see similar signs as Ghana headed for the polls in December this year for the presidential and parliamentary elections.
For instance, Dr. Agyeman-Duah, who has earned worldwide acclaim as a governance expert, explained how elements within the 1992-2000 National Democratic Congress (NDC) government led by ex-President Rawlings, planned to subvert democratic process and prevent the New Patriotic Party (NPP) from taking over power, after the election results pointed a clear win for the NPP.
According to him, during the 2000 elections, plans were hatched for President Rawlings to declare a State of Emergency and suspend the electoral process.
The plan was to use the excuse of a possible escalation of violence to deny then presidential candidate John Agyekum Kufuor from assuming the reins of power.
Unknown to the general public, when it emerged that the chances of the NDC?s candidate then, John Evans Atta Mills winning the 2000 election was slim, a group of military officers met in the third week of December 2000, at the Burma Camp to hatch a plan that would create an environment conducive enough for ex-President Rawlings to declare a State of Emergency.
?A plausible scenario emerged: an invasion of the country by Ghanaian ?dissidents supported by Togolese Mercenaries?! The plan was to fake the invasion [of Ghana] by parachuting the so-called dissidents and Togolese soldiers onto the Tema motorway where, after some staged combat, they would be rounded up,? he recounted.
According to him, to complete the plan, ?Simultaneously, chaos would be instigated and orchestrated at some selected strongholds of the opposition party to reinforce the cooked crisis in Accra. The invasion and provocations would strengthen the alibi they needed for a declaration of emergency.?
It is unclear who masterminded the plan because the trail could not be linked to him, he noted, adding that, ?Although a few strategically placed individuals had suspected the incumbent president (Rawlings) of complicity, no clear trail had led directly to his doorstep.?
?The thought of Kufour?s presidency was known to have traumatized Rawlings and caused him sleepless nights,? he wrote.
Drawing Linkages
Dr. Agyeman-Duah chronicled how in 2008, the country was almost at the brink of a civil war, particularly when the elections between the NPP and NDC went into a runoff and the winner won by the slimmest of margins?0.13 per cent.
The NDC feared the NPP was not going to relinquish the seat, particularly when it emerged that some of the ballot figures were being ?massaged?; the writer relates: ?Visibly shaken by what they had suspected, the NDC stalwarts swore to send their foot soldiers to the streets to make the country ungovernable. This was no idle threat: they had relayed the message for troop mobilization to their party leaders.?
Indeed, Radio Gold, a radio station with sympathy for the NDC, started inciting tension in a manner similar to the genocidal prompting of the Rwandan radio station, Radio Milles Collins, whose popular ?Cockroach? comparison sparked the Rwandan civil war that saw more than 800,000 people dead within a year.
?Radio Gold went overboard, vociferously referring to opponents as cockroaches, a sordid reminder of Radio Mills Collines in the prelude to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda,? he wrote.
Already, a certain air of tension is building up, as secret tapes reveal a sinister mobilization of troops and mercenaries for the 2012 elections, there are countless reports of party supporters stocking offensive weapons.
Dr. Agyeman-Duah noted that the various ethnic differences and incidence of tribal conflicts could be a breeding ground for a possible escalation of violence. Indeed, the Ghana Police Service on Wednesday disclosed that Ghana has as much as 1,000 flash points that could compromise this year?s elections if authorities were not vigilant.
By Raphael Ofori-Adeniran
