Celebrating A Nuisance (1)

The coup d’état or nuisance of 31st December 1981 was once more celebrated last week, with all the attendant rituals. Whatever that was meant to achieve will remain elusive to those with links to the esoteric! It reminded many of us about the blood Jerry John Rawlings drew from his thumb to autograph his party’s manifesto as President when the publication was being launched in Accra. It was derisively dubbed Dracula Manifesto at the time. The attendance list during last week’s show was bereft of the old guards, those who assisted in making the coup possible and providing the necessary intellectual touch to what was in all facets, a treason. Those missing were the think-tanks and the ideologues of the December coup who the architect of the aberration now prefers to regard as greedy bastards. The “spent forces”, as he considers them, no longer hold any significant place in his heart. Those who dominated the latest celebration, especially the speech rendering stage or even the theatricals, were the latter day converts. If the celebration was devoid of the ideologues behind the coup, not so the usual cacophony of accountability, truth and what have you. The recycled versions of moralities dominated the speech of the chairman, inducing yawning among those who bothered to listen to him at all. Ghanaians have expectedly become more discerning than they were in the 80s and therefore see through the architect of the so-called revolution as he rants away at his recycled utterances. Faded and meaning nothing anymore, he continues to jar the ears of Ghanaians with the recycled vituperations each time the 31st December date is due. It is our prayer that Mr. Rawlings, the leader of the two coups that set the clock of the state backwards, would live long enough to appreciate the emptiness of the deception he dubbed a revolution. Ironically, since the so-called revolution and the copious justifications he put forth to defend it, nothing has changed as evidenced from the litany of complaints he continues to put across each time he presents the score card of President Mills. People continue to queue to attend to nature’s call, as others boast of over eight toilets in their houses, an anomaly which he detested during his so-called revolution. True or false? It is as true today as it was in the 80s we dare assert. It is also interesting to observe that the ex-junta leader continues to talk about some murders which for him have not attracted investigation or justice. He has especially taken up the issue of the murder of the Ya Na, Isa Mobila, claiming these have not been investigated by the Mills administration. Honestly, we do not get it because of the strangeness of the man’s logic. The premises are weak and the conclusion therefore unsound. The human right abuses including murders and disappearances which characterized the AFRC and PNDC eras of the country’s history are unparalleled in the annals of Ghana, yet he prefers not to consider these when he gets the opportunity to bemoan the shortcomings of all governments in the country but his. Crimes are crimes and no matter who commits them, they should be investigated and if need be, the appropriate action taken. This is not about “his truth”, “our truth” but really the truth, that’s all. Murders of 1979, 1981 and 2005 are all criminal offences which should be subjected to the same system of investigation and not selective procedures and preferences. It is becoming too obvious that the ex-President loves the media blitz associated with mounting the podium and rendering such fallacious speeches, their uselessness and illogicalities, notwithstanding. We shall return.