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2016 is coming!

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2016 is coming!

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One of my favourite pastimes is to hear listeners and viewers of the various radio and television stations express their views on national issues. It is sincerely a pleasant affair.

There is a good mix of humour. There are slices of cynicism laced with expressions of genuine concern. But if you listen carefully, you would discover one particular phrase that keeps coming on every now and then. 2016 is coming! It does not matter the issue at hand.

So long as the issue under discussion is something that touches the lives and wellbeing of people in this country, you are bound to hear someone send a message into the studio reminding the government that 2016 is coming.

Simple as it is and as empty as it sounds especially if it were intended to be viewed as a threat, this statement is laden with a lot of meaning that we are better of paying close attention to.

From a positive perspective, such a statement gives some indication of the nearly universal acceptance of the fact that many consider the ballot process as the means of effecting the changes that would improve their lives and well-being.

After all, 2016 is election year and unless those who use those messages mean something else, our safest bet is that it is a call on the government and ruling party to lift up their game and improve the situation at hand.

The statement also reflects an almost unanimous view amongst the people of Ghana that the changes of government through extra-legal means are not only unproductive but rather takes us through a long spiral of hope and disappointment.

On the positive side therefore, the message seems to be: we recognise the powers conferred on us as individual citizens to effect the requisite and necessary changes in governance through the ballot box.

But here is the negative and grim side to the expression. “2016 is coming” can be interpreted as an indication of the fact that lettered and educated Ghanaians with the skills and means of first of all putting together the right alphabetical combination and numbers; and able to channel these through the right channel to the various radio stations and television stations have resigned themselves to fate.

Indeed they are waiting for the next elections to effect whatever change they wish to effect.

The statement as pointed out earlier reflects a rather laid back conception of citizenship.

The role of the voter does not end simply at the polling station. It does not end with a jubilation party at which individuals buy their own drinks and food.

Much further, it is not a matter of “I have voted so it is time for the government to do their thing.” It is a collaborative transaction. The government is at the point of dispensary and distribution. The citizenries are at the receiving end.

Therefore, it is in the interest of every government to take the kind of feedback they receive seriously.

It is equally in the primary interest of the citizenry to take seriously the kind of feedback they give to government.

One issue that has been making the news lately has to do with the expression of dissatisfaction with the inability of government to concretely deal with the poor state of the roads in the Volta region.

The arguments in there have been very compelling but once again, it is replete with the“2016 is coming” threat.

In colourful style, one of the leaders of the demonstration that took place in Ho recently over the subject matter of the poor road network in the region noted that if the government does not take steps to resolve the challenges, then the region it (the government) has always considered as a world bank would shrink significantly into a micro-finance institution come 2016.

Of course, it is a good thing to flex muscles every now and then. But we must not lose sight of this: pegging legitimate demands on a future time such as an election period is simply not an effective means of sending a message across.

And in a negotiation process, if threats are the only armour in your arsenals, then it would take luck and chance to make any progress.

Remember, the efficacy of threats only lies in the ability of the giver to execute them; and just as the President has long been criticised for his constant promises, so also must the threat-bundling civil societies, adhoc groups and opposition movement receive the same level of criticisms.

And oh, lest I forgot- I pray most of these texters and callers are not youths. They are the ones with the drive and energy to make the difference that the country desires the most.

And if not for anything at all, they must be taught about and believe in the fact that their voice, intellect, articulations and presence in the country counts and make a lot of difference.

Personally whenever I hear the expression “2016 is coming”, I cringe because I think it does no one no good and besides it sounds defeatist.

The 2016 would definitely pass and hopefully we would be issuing another eternal threat.

politics_today@yahoo.com

Source: graphic.com.gh

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