In 2012, a phrase was uttered when Nana Addo asserted that he had been cheated out of a rightful win. It was on the lips of every NDC party member. That phrase was “elections are won at the polls”. There was a divisive climate created because the NDC refused to recognize the claims of ballot discrepancies made by the NPP even though the NPP had substantial proof of ballot discrepancies. And even when they did for a brief moment respond to the allegations of an unfair and corrupted election, it was in a coy manner wherein they sneered at those who petitioned. This was demonstrated with Mahama quite smugly asking the NPP to “go to court” then and that “they know the procedures to go through to contest an election” on Joy News. And go to court the NPP did over the claims of defective pink sheets. Philip Addison stood before the Counsel to petition to no avail. It is said what goes around comes back around and that’s what occurred this current election cycle.
In 2012, had the NDC acted in a different manner wherein they had dropped the partisanship in order to uphold stability in the country, in order to much more justly review and accept the claims made by their opposition; their accusations of today would have been taken much more seriously. However, because the NDC decided to choose to go down a dismissive route, what gives them the right this time around to claim that their accusations of an unfair election should be handled with seriousness and sincerity that they want. What merit do they have? If fairness and justness are values that they believe in, why is it that when the NPP petitioned in 2012 they were met with insults?
How can you expect someone to be willing to listen to you when you yourself had been willfully deaf to the cries of another? NDC had laid the groundwork for what was to occur to them now and forevermore down the line. Whenever someone from NDC claims they have been wronged in an election, what kind of response do they think they will get from the general public? Will the burning of marketplaces, the rowdy actions by NDC small boys in the streets garner any form of sympathy? I think not. In 2012, a group of petitioners took the stand and illustrated clearly to the courts where they have been wronged, their hypothesis on how it happened and still they could not have the desired outcome. In 2020 they do not outline how they have been wronged or what could have been the cause of them losing the election. They do not point out any form of foul play except for the preaching of some man who has christened himself a prophet on TV claiming the NDC has been wronged and the “seat will return to the rightful owner.”
Now maybe it was foul play from the NPP party, and maybe it could have been that the NDC failed to appeal to the general public and as such, they did not get the votes. But one thing that must be understood is this and this alone. In the words of the NDC ‘elections are won at the polls’ and this time, you did not win, and you will not win in the courts because they will be following the precedent that had been set in 2012 when the NPP and their claims of foul play with the pink sheets were dismissed.
Joel Yamoah
Boston, Massachusetts
USA
Yamoahwrites@gmail.com