Ghanaians, very soon you will be called upon by your country to exercise your “RIGHT” as the true custodians of the land called Ghana and in your position as the number one important person in the country. During those days we were in the primary school, the eve of the long vacations in July was called “Our Day”. We all brought food from home in the afternoon and ate together in the form of a party and the next day, the examination results would be announced for us to see who passed or who failed. We used to have a song called “ Woadi awie aka wo nsohwe” literally meaning you have finished your enjoyment it is time for your results.

General Elections are periods the politicians become accountable to us. Depending upon the type of a constitution a country has, in the case of Ghana where it is four years per term, it is the only time one sees the person they elected as their Member of Parliament. There are some of them who never went back to the constituency to find out from the people what challenges they faced during their tenure. There are those who never spoke on the floor of parliament and there are those who never attended any of the proceedings of the house and even if they did, it was to meet the criterion of a certain number of days a person should be in parliament so that they could draw their remuneration. Very soon they will criss-cross every breadth and length of our nation to shed crocodile tears so that the gullible Ghanaian electorate will vote for them.

In the developed world this is the period they cherish so much. It is the only time they have the RIGHT to address the politician as a father or mother addresses their children. This is the time they confront the politician especially the members of parliament to account for their time in parliament. They don’t spare them at all and what makes the whole exercise interesting and enjoyable is the fact that these people move from their palatial mansions to the remotest hamlet, wherever it is located. For once, the politicians recognise who the true citizens are and whilst for the inhibited, you will feel sorry for them, as soon as they leave your doorstep they rain insults on you. During the last UK General Elections, a lady confronted the then Prime Minister, Gordon Brown on an issue during his campaigning and after he had addressed the lady, forgetting he was still wired, remarked: “She is foolish woman “and that cost him the elections. Why? The British people felt he had no regard for them.

Can we do that in Ghana? Can we realise that these people were elected to do a job and if they have not done the job, we don’t care for any excuses, we don’t have to vote for them again? The time has come for us to be bold to effect a change in our society and this is what mindset is all about. You become discerning to know that, I have the power to effect positive change in Ghana and I will use it.

Let us copy the developed world and subject these Ghanaian politicians to real scrutiny. They must give answers to these questions at least.

1. You remember that last four years you said you would build a school for this town if voted into power and based on that you were elected. What happened?

2. We travelled all the way to Accra/Kumasi in order to gain access to Public Library and you said it was your number one priority if you got the nod, can you tell us why we still continue travelling the long distances?

3. Women in labour would have to be carried 70 miles to reach the nearest clinic and we remember you shed tears with us as we recounted the number of women who died travelling that long distance. You said your predecessors were wicked and you will change the situation. It is four years now and you have come back again. Why now?

4. What about the Public Parks, Recreational facilities, and Public toilets you promised?

5. Water was our major headache four years ago and it is still the same. How can we trust you to do anything better next time?

6. You promised to make sure the railway line passed through our town. What happened

7. You galvanised all the youth and they were instrumental in your election as an MP, and you promised to open job opportunities, we never saw any job opening here. Why?

8. You said you were different from your predecessor who throughout his tenure visited just five times but you never came to visit your constituency to have known any new challenges in our area. Why?

9. You drew our attention to the fact that there was acute shortage of housing in our area so you will implore the central government to include us in housing development but we saw nothing. Why?

Elections are about issues and nothing else. We are encouraging Ghanaians to start challenging these politicians on issues. You possess the power more than the politician, without you and in a democratic dispensation, only you can decide who should lead your country and represent you in parliament but not those who will go and warm the parliamentary seats but to be proactive in fighting to make sure your town or village enjoys the better sanitation, education, good and accessible roads, clinic, health centres, hospitals and equitable share in the national cake just like any area else. Dear Ghanaian you have a duty to your country, to your children and to the yet unborn children that there will be a Ghana they would be proud to live in. You have to start asking these leaders questions for they are no better than you in any way. If you are a King-maker, it means you are more than a King. There is nowhere in the world that a slave has the power to choose a king. It is the royal family that selects a king and therefere, you as the “Ghanaian Royal” will be performing your royal duty when you queue the whole day to make sure our land has a president and members of parliament and any wrong choice you make has the potential to harm the development of Ghana, the country you are proud to call your country.