I do not think that there is any Ghanaian out there who does not think our politicians are, more often than not, good for nothing when it comes to nation building and delivery of services. So why do we still keep the same two parties in power over and over again?  What happened to switching your vote, if not to teach the politicians who took you for granted a lesson, at least to try something new, another party for that matter?  What do we stand to lose?....  Nothing!!....  They say – he that is down need fear no fall. 

The more often we switch our votes the greater the likelihood that politicians begin to take us seriously.  As crude and insensitive as they are, politicians can also be smart learners when the votes whittle away in favour of their opponents. They not only take notice…. they not only listen….  but also begin to take steps and put measures in place that will serve you, and more importantly, serve the interest of our country.

Ghana is a country in which the people who would normally be looked up to as guardians of society, namely the president, judges, police, traditional leaders and pastors /imams, have themselves become the worst examples of social and moral decay, they are smeared by corruption in every way one can imagine. 

Luckily we are not in a dictatorship, we are in a democracy, we have the weapon – the ballot !!!  So why are we being held hostage by two political parties?  Why can’t we use the ballot box to optimize the benefits of democracy for ourselves and our country?  Are we that cowards?  Afraid to just simply decide – I am not voting for these parties this time around? Would that be the end of the world for our country?

For the past several election cycles the two main political parties have had their way by using fear as a campaign tool to divide and rule us. They have managed to cow us into two boxes the NDC box and the NPP box, making sure that a minimum of 45% of the popular votes are in the “bank” for each party, even before the first vote is cast.  The 10% leftover is what all the parties must scramble for to determine the winner. 

Ethnocentrism is the bane of those who allow themselves to be boxed up by political parties. We allow ourselves to be manipulated out of fear of our neighbour who just happens to be from a different tribe, whom you have not had any problem with, or wage war against.

 People you have co-habited in peace for years in the same neighbourhood, town or city, people with who you share the same negative consequences of our incompetent government; being falling standard of education for our children, water and power supply problems, crumbling health delivery system, while those in power travel out to seek medical care abroad or send their kids to schools abroad, in addition to all the lavish lifestyle they enjoy at our expense.

The argument that there is no any better alternative to NPP and NDC is not tenable. These two parties seem flashy and perhaps on the surface appear better organized. But do not forget that they have been in government in recent times and as a result have had access to state resources to build and improve the appeal of their parties at your expense.

Let them go into opposition for just ten years and see if they will look appealing as they do today.  NPP has been in opposition for just about six years and already they are reeling from a massive internal wrangling. The fatigue of life in opposition is now taking its toll.  One wonders whether they will continue to remain as one united “UP tradition” should they fail to win the 2016 elections.

Also it is quite evident that the wealth they accumulated while in power has dwindled, to the extent that they are now indebted to the tune of GhC2.2 million to Prudential Bank, monies they borrowed to run their campaign in 2012. You and I would never have heard about it if they had won the elections. One can only speculate that our money would have been used to settle the bank on the quiet.

Similarly when NDC went into opposition we saw the troubles they had with life in the wilderness, culminating in the formation of a breakaway party by Konadu Rawlings. Luckily enough Konadu did not get to contest. Clearly these parties would have no appeal if they are deprived of state resources for as long as CPP had.

Note that come 2016 if you go out there to vote on the basis of the appeal of the party or tribal inclination of the party, you may be perpetuating corruption, mediocrity and incompetence. Do not be a mindless voter, free yourself from the shackles of NPP and NDC manipulations, because in the end we get the government our voting pattern produce. 

Most people are more comfortable with a certain party being in power, they prefer a deceptive illusion than taking on the truth and working to fix it. 

Let us send these “Adolf Hitlers” of Ghana politics out for once, to convey the message that we have had enough.  It will be in our interest to have three alternating political parties able to rise to power, that will ensure that there is always two potential replacements waiting on the margins to oust the ruling government if it slips, like President Mahama has done amply, while NPP self-destruct in opposition. If we do that, we would have attained a true political independence, where we can’t be taken for granted by those in power.