The Dracula Vrs The IEA

The paranoia which has afflicted the Mills National Democratic Congress (NDC) appears to be tipping the precipice and threatening the foundation of our democracy. Organisations which have come under the attack of the paranoid grouping should take solace in the fact that such is the nature of the party in their post-Rawlings days. Paranoia remains a major psychological ailment of the party ebbing away not only its energy but impairing its sense of judgment. The party�s General Secretary, Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketia is reported to have pointed at the judiciary, teachers, media and even the church as being antagonistic to their cause. It makes us wonder whether the party has friends at all. As for the business community, especially the Ghana Union Traders Association (GUTA), they have long been dubbed as an NPP appendage. Perhaps their only friends are the few chiefs and pastors who have weighed their options very well and chosen to turn their attention to the other side for the reward of falling Manna on their dining tables of course from the Castle. One of the country�s most respected think-tanks, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), is the latest to suffer the paranoia of the NDC as the foul-mouthed Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa turns his teeth, in Dracula fashion, towards the foremost democracy-enhancing think-tanks in the country. Representing his party, he seeks to drain blood off the IEA and render it dead. It is a well rehearsed and choreographed enactment intended to deny us a credible platform to assess our prospective presidents. The role of think-tanks, respectable ones, such as the IEA in the nurturing of democracy in a country cannot be overlooked and any attempt to dictate to us which platform to assess our presidential candidates should be spat upon by all democracy loving Ghanaians. It is for this reason that we view the recent antagonism against the IEA by Samuel Ablakwa Okudzeto and the party Propaganda Manager as something borne out of disdain for anything which seeks to enhance good governance. It is not surprising that the CDD suffered a similar fate as Ghanaians folded their arms. It is incumbent upon us all, who seek to have democracy entrenched in this country to stand up and demand respect for such think-tanks. Skewing the rules and standards of presidential debates to suit the NDC should not be countenanced by Ghanaians. The presidential debates now synonymous with the IEA should not lose their shine and reverence through the dirty ploys of the embattled NDC. For the NDC to decide on which organization should organize the presidential debate is akin to a soccer team deciding on which referee officiates a match. Such debates are not managed by financially starved state agencies like the National Commission On Civic Education (NCCE). Presidential debates go beyond the town crying activities of the NCCE. Let us be serious and stand up against any move to push the IEA and others in their shape to the peripheries. IEA with its reputation and as originators of the presidential debate series has earned the respect of all Ghanaians save the integrity-deficient leaders of the NDC who are anything but decent gentlemen whose views should be respected.