The Upsurge of Democratic Dictatorship

With the re-entry into power of the NDC, Ghanaians have started witnessing some signs of yesteryears under Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and Rawlings.

Today, the False Report Act (1959), which in effect was meant to deal with anyone who made pronouncements perceived to embarrass government, has been resurrected.

For how can it be an offence for, Mohammed Zakuo, of the opposition NPP, to have wished the Vice President of the land, H.E. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, with words like “Rest Well, Your Excellency?”

Rest Well, is a goodwill message meaning sleep well or have a good rest. It is a polite and encouraging phrase that suggests wish for someone to have a peaceful and rejuvenating period of relaxation and sleep. And it was this that had the state security agency, NIB, going after Zakuo. Is it that someone up there does not fully understand the English language?

I remember back in the early eighties, during one of the National Sports Festivals, held in University of Ghana, Legon, I personally encountered how misunderstanding of idiomatic expressions could most likely lead to “war.”

The Ghana Armed Forces were engaging the University in volleyball when a student cracked a joke. One of the soldiers was not too pleased and expressed his feelings, angrily. As tempers started rising, one female student cried out to her colleagues that “Please let it go. He does not have any sense of humour.” Then the time-bomb blasted. The soldier became so furious and started shouting angrily, “she says I do not have sense.” After a while, confusion and laughter allowed peace to reign.

And today, here we are again, with someone just saying “rest well,” and it has become an offensive language now fully classified under treasonable offences, so the state security agency had to step in.

With what is coming, victims can be harvested to court when they utter the Twi word, “dayie.” This word means “good night” to someone and at the same time, “rest in peace,” to a departed soul being laid to rest.

One must be very careful when saying this word “dayie,” to a living being. Or he could find himself in court to prove beyond reasonable doubt, that he was not wishing the plaintiff, death.

How freedom of expression is gradually being gagged in this democratic era of our country, is very amazing. Was it not the NDC who fought against journalists being allegedly gaged by the NPP government? But in power, people must seek permission before they voice out certain words. We need to chill down and rest well.

Ashanti region is not the stronghold of the NDC. This region contributes a lot to the victory of the NPP, since this party’s votes alone from Ashanti can wipe out all votes for the NDC from at least eight other regions.

During the 2024 General Elections, the Ashanti votes for the NPP was short over 600,000 votes of what the party had in 2020. And the NDC had more than 40,000 votes than it had in the region in 2020. This contributed greatly in the NDC securing that massive victory in 2024. The Ashanti region alone contributed one-third of NPP supporters nationwide who decided not to vote at all during the elections. So, in all things NDC must be very grateful to Ashanti region. However, what do we see, gross disrespect is what the NDC is showing to that region.

First, during the Council of State elections, knowing their party member was losing, some NDC thugs stormed the venue and created mayhem, resulting in the process being re-run, days later. This time the NDC man won and the NDC was at peace.

Now what are we hearing from the new mayor of Kumasi, Hon. Richard Ofori-Agyeman Boadi? He spoke and said: ‘I have my own democratic military style, which I will be implementing. When we say ‘leave this space,’ and you don’t leave this space, and I get there, and you’re not lucky and my boys are with me, there and then, we will beat you. There, in the middle of Adum…, and [if] my 10 boys are in their pickups with me and with their whips…, we will beat you…. If you let the job become difficult for me, I will let your body feel the difficulty that you’re giving to me.’

What stupid nonsense! He actually said violation of public laws are not for the police to handle? He believed in whipping sense into people, instead of applying the tenets of law and democracy. And this was his third day at work.

Seriously, is this man saying the only way to maintain law and order in Kumasi is to whip people? Is that what his colleague chief executives are doing in their jurisdictions? How does he regard the people of Ashanti? Like animals who must be whip in order?

And he had the effrontery to say he was going to do this to make Otumfuo’s city of Kumasi, a beautiful city. Come to think of it, is he saying, HRH the Asantehene Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II, has sanctioned the canning of his subjects?

This is gross arrogance and it clearly shows that the NDC does not like Asantes, especially the people of Kumasi.

Rawlings came in 1979 and 1981 and tortured indigenes of Ashanti region. A prominent chief was forced to carry night-soil for committing undisclosed offences. A pastor of a church was dragged out by soldiers and killed. Seventy-six of his church members had earlier been killed by the Rawlings’ soldiers. Rawlings could stand in front of Asante chiefs and condemn them for being ungrateful not to vote for the NDC. Rawlings could poke his bloody fingers into the face of HRH, the Asantehene, for no offence committed. Rawlings could murder three prominent Asante senior army officers in 1979 and later told us that they committed no wrong.

And now people of Kumasi will be whipped should they violate any public law. Is somebody serious here? This shows great disrespect to Asantes, portraying them as people who cannot think and act properly, so, like animals, they must be whipped in line. This is an insult to Asanteman and the Golden Stool.

Hon Ofori Agyeman Boadi is only showing that he cannot handle the task given him by President John Mahama, because clearly, he is not fit for any appointment. The days that innocent people are whipped in public are long gone and if he attempts this on anyone, he should know that the same thing could be done to him and his family members. Is this new NDC government re-introducing the Rawlings era where people were whipped indiscriminately in public?

From the re-introduction of the False Report Act and Rawlings’ democratisation of violence we now re-enter into the age of Nkrumah’s failed campaign promise to cocoa farmers.

During his campaign for the first general election in the Gold Coast in 1951, Nkrumah stormed the major cocoa growing region, the Ashanti region, which then included the current Ashanti region and the former Brong-Ahafo region, and promised the cocoa farmers that when elected he would increase the producer price of the product. And with this the region which was already a CPP stronghold exhibited great loyalty and voted massively for Nkrumah and the CPP.

Unfortunately, when Nkrumah won the elections, he went ahead to reduce the producer price of cocoa by a third of the prevailing price and also hedged that very low price for four years.

This greatly disappointed cocoa farmers in the region and so, when the NLM was formed most of them crossed over, denouncing Nkrumah and the CPP.

In April 2024, the world market price for cocoa went to $10,000.00 or GH¢130,000.00 per tonne. The NPP government increased the producer price of cocoa from GH¢20,928.00 per tonne to GH¢33,120.00 or GH¢2,070.00 per bag. The then opposition, NDC, cried foul and said the government was short-changing the cocoa farmers. The new producer price, according to them was only 25.47% of the international market price and suggested that at least 70%, that is GH¢91,000.00 a tonne or GH¢5,687.50 per bag was a fair price, promising to pay that to cocoa farmers, when elected into government.

The NPP government increased the producer price in September and again in November in 2024, to GH¢ 49,600.00 a tonne or GH¢3,100.00 per bag. This however, fell short of the NDC’s proposed GH¢91,000.00 a tonne or GH¢5,687.50 per bag.

Come December 2024, most cocoa farmers in anticipation that an NDC government would make them richer than they were, voted massively for the NDC.

With the NDC forming government today, and with the current world market price of cocoa at GH¢123,778.21 ($8,032.33), one would have expected cocoa farmers to be receiving GH¢86,744.74 per tonne of cocoa sold or GH¢5,545.26 according to the NDC’s own pledge and promises.

But unfortunately, just as Kwame Nkrumah deceived cocoa farmers, the NDC has backed down on its promise. In a letter dated April 8, 2025, the NDC government, through Ghana Cocoa Board, is telling the cocoa farmers to exercise patience and continue to receive what Nana Addo paid for their cocoa. Whatever happened to the promise of paying them at least 70% of the world market price, when it comes to power? Anyway, Nkrumah deceived cocoa farmers in 1951 and the NDC has done likewise in 2025.

Are we going back to the Nkrumah’s reign as head of state of this country?

This is pure democratic dictatorship.

Hon. Daniel Dugan

 

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