I write this note to all well meaning Ghanaians, especially those who think that it is better to cancel the elections in Tein and declare one of the contestants winner of the Dec 28 Presidential Run Off in Ghana. There is really a lot of exasperation in the air. Some have even gone on to label Nana Addo “power hungry” and “lacking common sense” . On the contrary, I think what is happening is a lot of common sense. I mean, allowing the people of Tein to exercise their franchise so that ALL Ghanaians will have a say in who becomes President IS common sense. I don't quite get what people's frustration is with this simple democratic exercise.
I have more than a fair idea about theTein constituency and I can say that the NDC will most likely win it and, in most probability, win the run off. However, we can’t just assume for the people in that constituency. We should all remember that political authority thrives on legitimacy. How can a President claim legitimacy when some people were disenfranchised during the voting process? We might as well scrap elections and make assumptions for every constituency and declare winners and losers.
People should understand that TEIN IS NOT going to determine who becomes the next President of Ghana. Votes from Tein will be added to votes from other constituencies to determine the winner. If Atta Mills wins the run off, it doesn't mean he did it because of just votes from Tein. It is the same with Nana Addo. Whoever wins the election can rightly ascend the throne because he has won the majority of the eligible votes cast THROUGHOUT Ghana.
The principle of universal adults’ suffrage is fundamental to multi party democracy. One man, one vote; not some man one vote and another man, no vote. If the voting in Tein is scrapped, we will be setting a bad precedent for ourselves and laying a rod for our own backs. There may come a time when some constituencies will be deliberately prevented from voting but a winner declared, because those constituencies are the strongholds of some party. This will not make sense.
I urge all the people of Ghana to appreciate the essence of democracy. It is a fascinating form of government. I can’t tell whether it’s the best form of government or not. What I know however is that, for close to sixteen years, it has worked wonders for the people of Ghana. Let us all therefore get off this “Candidate ABC should concede” bandwagon and allow the process to reach its logical conclusion.
May all of us have a prosperous New Year.I write this note to all well meaning Ghanaians, especially those who think that it is better to cancel the elections in Tein and declare one of the contestants winner of the Dec 28 Presidential Run Off in Ghana. There is really a lot of exasperation in the air. Some have even gone on to label Nana Addo “power hungry” and “lacking common sense” . On the contrary, I think what is happening is a lot of common sense. I mean, allowing the people of Tein to exercise their franchise so that ALL Ghanaians will have a say in who becomes President IS common sense. I don't quite get what people's frustration is with this simple democratic exercise.
I have more than a fair idea about theTein constituency and I can say that the NDC will most likely win it and, in most probability, win the run off. However, we can’t just assume for the people in that constituency. We should all remember that political authority thrives on legitimacy. How can a President claim legitimacy when some people were disenfranchised during the voting process? We might as well scrap elections and make assumptions for every constituency and declare winners and losers.
People should understand that TEIN IS NOT going to determine who becomes the next President of Ghana. Votes from Tein will be added to votes from other constituencies to determine the winner. If Atta Mills wins the run off, it doesn't mean he did it because of just votes from Tein. It is the same with Nana Addo. Whoever wins the election can rightly ascend the throne because he has won the majority of the eligible votes cast THROUGHOUT Ghana.
The principle of universal adults’ suffrage is fundamental to multi party democracy. One man, one vote; not some man one vote and another man, no vote. If the voting in Tein is scrapped, we will be setting a bad precedent for ourselves and laying a rod for our own backs. There may come a time when some constituencies will be deliberately prevented from voting but a winner declared, because those constituencies are the strongholds of some party. This will not make sense.
I urge all the people of Ghana to appreciate the essence of democracy. It is a fascinating form of government. I can’t tell whether it’s the best form of government or not. What I know however is that, for close to sixteen years, it has worked wonders for the people of Ghana. Let us all therefore get off this “Candidate ABC should concede” bandwagon and allow the process to reach its logical conclusion.
May all of us have a prosperous New Year.
I have more than a fair idea about theTein constituency and I can say that the NDC will most likely win it and, in most probability, win the run off. However, we can’t just assume for the people in that constituency. We should all remember that political authority thrives on legitimacy. How can a President claim legitimacy when some people were disenfranchised during the voting process? We might as well scrap elections and make assumptions for every constituency and declare winners and losers.
People should understand that TEIN IS NOT going to determine who becomes the next President of Ghana. Votes from Tein will be added to votes from other constituencies to determine the winner. If Atta Mills wins the run off, it doesn't mean he did it because of just votes from Tein. It is the same with Nana Addo. Whoever wins the election can rightly ascend the throne because he has won the majority of the eligible votes cast THROUGHOUT Ghana.
The principle of universal adults’ suffrage is fundamental to multi party democracy. One man, one vote; not some man one vote and another man, no vote. If the voting in Tein is scrapped, we will be setting a bad precedent for ourselves and laying a rod for our own backs. There may come a time when some constituencies will be deliberately prevented from voting but a winner declared, because those constituencies are the strongholds of some party. This will not make sense.
I urge all the people of Ghana to appreciate the essence of democracy. It is a fascinating form of government. I can’t tell whether it’s the best form of government or not. What I know however is that, for close to sixteen years, it has worked wonders for the people of Ghana. Let us all therefore get off this “Candidate ABC should concede” bandwagon and allow the process to reach its logical conclusion.
May all of us have a prosperous New Year.I write this note to all well meaning Ghanaians, especially those who think that it is better to cancel the elections in Tein and declare one of the contestants winner of the Dec 28 Presidential Run Off in Ghana. There is really a lot of exasperation in the air. Some have even gone on to label Nana Addo “power hungry” and “lacking common sense” . On the contrary, I think what is happening is a lot of common sense. I mean, allowing the people of Tein to exercise their franchise so that ALL Ghanaians will have a say in who becomes President IS common sense. I don't quite get what people's frustration is with this simple democratic exercise.
I have more than a fair idea about theTein constituency and I can say that the NDC will most likely win it and, in most probability, win the run off. However, we can’t just assume for the people in that constituency. We should all remember that political authority thrives on legitimacy. How can a President claim legitimacy when some people were disenfranchised during the voting process? We might as well scrap elections and make assumptions for every constituency and declare winners and losers.
People should understand that TEIN IS NOT going to determine who becomes the next President of Ghana. Votes from Tein will be added to votes from other constituencies to determine the winner. If Atta Mills wins the run off, it doesn't mean he did it because of just votes from Tein. It is the same with Nana Addo. Whoever wins the election can rightly ascend the throne because he has won the majority of the eligible votes cast THROUGHOUT Ghana.
The principle of universal adults’ suffrage is fundamental to multi party democracy. One man, one vote; not some man one vote and another man, no vote. If the voting in Tein is scrapped, we will be setting a bad precedent for ourselves and laying a rod for our own backs. There may come a time when some constituencies will be deliberately prevented from voting but a winner declared, because those constituencies are the strongholds of some party. This will not make sense.
I urge all the people of Ghana to appreciate the essence of democracy. It is a fascinating form of government. I can’t tell whether it’s the best form of government or not. What I know however is that, for close to sixteen years, it has worked wonders for the people of Ghana. Let us all therefore get off this “Candidate ABC should concede” bandwagon and allow the process to reach its logical conclusion.
May all of us have a prosperous New Year.
let's see about the common sense!
ReplyDelete1. it's true that Tain must vote no matter who would win because of the legitimacy you talk about. true and true!
2. it's true that Tain is not the only decider in the presidential elections. true!
3. some might have called for the cancellation of Tain. but the question is who??? At least now we know that officially, it's the npp themselves who are calling for the cancellation of Tain! so they are even boycotting! TRUE!
4. AN ASIDE... Hillary had issues with some of the processes of the Democratic party alright! But she conceded and went ahead to call for the voices of all to be heard at the Democratic convention finally! true.
5. Nana has long been labeled all sorts of things in relation to power in Ghana! TRUE!
COMMON SENSE:
now the test of common sense!
refer to point 4. above and tell me if it's not common sense for Nana to concede while still calling that the people of Tain be allowed to vote! wouldn't that have proved that he stood for a course greater than self benefit somehow???
I really wonder if you have been following the machinations of the npp! if you have you would have known long before now that they did not have interest whatsoever in Tain.
Therefore it is common sense for folks to call for Nana to concede because you yourself admit that he won't win Tain.
And sure it would only amount to fool hardy for anyone to think that ndc would allow only volta region to be re-run!
and seriously if you inform your self with the figures and do a careful study and comparison b/n volta and ashanti as per the levels of 'nonsensical' or 'balloon' increments from 2004 to 2008 then you would realise that it need not take anyone to alert Nana to concede. it is clear!
it is clear that they are only up to machinations for whatever hope only God can tell...That is why they must just concede while Tain still votes!
That is the common sense!
Esi,you are the only one making sense of this whole Tain voting..It is so shocking listening so call smart intellectual calling for the cancellation of the vote there..Some even trying to compare McCain's concession in the nov7th vote in the states,it scares the sh--t out of me when people use America as a comparison... they are still counting votes in one of the senate races here..even America...people need to Chile and let the system work... I wish Mr mills the best cos he has a lot work to do,hopefully his party will give him space to rule.
ReplyDeleteThere is a Pre-Madonna in that party let us pray that he stays away...peace y'all...
Hi Esi,
ReplyDeleteYou are so right!
I wish Ghanaians will learn to allow legitimacy and the rule of law to prevail in a fair and objective manner, instead of the partisanship approach we are so used to.
A level-headed approach towards dealing with all issues as opposed to unrestrained emotions will do us a lot of good.
May you and the whole of Ghana thrive in two thousand and nice!
@Novisi,Patrick, and Posekyere. This article was written by Thomas Kyei-Boateng. I've alerted him to respond to your comments, so watch out for his response. You should also check out the latest blog entry by Sunskreen.
ReplyDeletethomas i guessed this is a good article. as much as i go with people who think Nana was power hungry because i think we all realised that when results started pouring in that prof. Mills was going to win. what rather made people to think Nana was power hungry is that they later saw that he was not interested in the votes in Tain but he rather wanted to use the delay in the declaration to pursue the court agenda which would have plunged the country we all love into chaos because he never went to campaign in Tain when all NDC gurus were busily convincing people it tain to vote for them. I think that idea he chose was bad if he ever dreamt of competing in an event of this nature in future. This might be the end of the road for him cause the NPP itself was not hapy with the development.
ReplyDeletei remain your friend and mate from ODA Presby Boys'
Gabriel Ametame