The Woes of the Ghanaian Voter

The Ghanaian voter has to wake up early dawn to join a very long winding queue in order to register.
He/she has to endure the harsh weather conditions of scorching sun or rain...
He/she has to remain on feet as long as it takes to have his turn to register...
After going through all these, he/she has to wait patiently until it's time to cast ballot to choose who rules this country...
And when it’s time to cast the ballot to choose who rules this country

The poor voter would have to remain on his/her feet for hours to cast the ballot

Again in the harsh weather conditions – be it sunny or rainy

When the politician comes to cast his ballot or even register his name as a voter

He has the audacity to jump the queue…

Apart from being brutalized by macho men and intimidation from security forces

Just to exercise his/her civil right

After enduring all these, someone would want to change the verdict of the people

Then the winner turns round to insult the poor voter that he lacks skills or do not qualify or being simply lazy that’s why he can’t find job to do from the many imaginary available jobs

The politicians can go to the house of the voter and begged for his vote

The politician can call the voter anytime to remind him of how his vote can make a change

When the politician wins eventually, he assumes the status of first citizen

He has to be protected…he can no longer answer phone calls from the voter…the road to the house of the voter ceases to exist and only resurfaces when the next election beckons…

Now the table has turned…the poor voter has to book appointment to call the politician…the poor voter has to go through lots of bureaucratic scrutiny to see the politician in rare cases

So you must know that the politician is only interested in your vote…anything having to do with you beyond that is none of his business!

Then I ask: Why must you vote at all? The answer as is always trumpeted is that if you don’t vote, others will decide who rules over you. Then I say: do I even care! There is nothing more painful to entrust your power to a trusted person and have him/her abuse it! But if I didn’t go through any of the excruciating frustrations to elect someone to go and mess up or misbehave, at least I won’t feel anything to close to disappointment. I’ll seek comfort in the fact that after all I didn’t waste my time in the long queue, in the scorching sun or beaten by the rain!

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Safety Matters – Know Your Environment

Image
In this series as captioned above, I want us to discuss our environment. It is extremely important to know your environment in order to ensure your personal safety and the safety of those around you. Your environment can be your house, inside your car, inside a plane, your office, the street, school, hospital. Generally speaking, it refers to wherever you find yourself at a given time. It does not have to necessarily be enclosure.  Apart from your house and perhaps your car which are considered your most immediate environments and which you’re very familiar with, you need to be given orientation on those other environments that are a bit remote to you.  Let’s look at a few examples: when you board a flight, a flight attendant would explain to you all the safety measures you need to take during an emergency. For instance he would show you all the exit points on the flight, emphasising that you must use the nearest one during an emergency. When you work in an office sett
Read more

He Didn't Die Like a Soldier

He walked on the battlefield Bullets flying all around him Yet none flew close to his fur Because he was not a target He was safe even among reverberating grenades and tanks He did not swear to protect himself But his people...his own people at his own peril Yet he had to die at the hands of this blood-sucking barbarians Who mistook him for animal And pelted him with rocks His bones crunched as he pleaded for mercy His innocent blood was shed His frozen tears formed a confluence of blood Flowing freely like a fountain Mistake him not for a coward For pulling the trigger could have saved him From these wolves Who were only after sniffing his life out of him. He must die one day But not this way Not to be killed like a common criminal. He died in his prime serving his country, Serving his countrymen, Serving people who did not see his use - people who did not believe in him. He coul
Read more

Neglecting People with Disability in Our Society

Image
Persons with disability are integral part of our society. Though in minority, their needs cannot be overlooked. A lot may have been achieved on the front of granting equal rights and opportunities to persons with disability which appear to be the main focus of many governments across the world, but for me, there are some key areas our leaders tend to underestimate.   The Disabled Persons Act of Ghana and the UN Commitment to Advancement of the Status of Persons with Disabilities only talked about equal rights, equal opportunities, no discrimination against persons with disability among others, but fall short of stating clearly its position on the design of public facilities. This may have informed the resolve of some section of our disable community to advocate for buildings that take their condition into account. In the recent past, that advocacy has gone on with focus on design of public buildings. The advocacy program wanted to ensure that public buildings are designed in
Read more