WHERE LAY THE SPIRIT OF CLASS STRUGGLE?

Class struggle, as opined by Karl Marx, a German Scholar, in his theory of historical materialism, is about the peasants’ strives for success. It is about war commissioned against perpetual hegemony, status quo and exploitation by the proletariats being used by the bourgeoisies to produce what they cannot buy. Class struggle is about the common people struggling towards restoring their battered souls. It is about the poorest of the poor striving towards becoming the richest of the rich. 

In Ghana today, the spirit of class struggle seems to have died amongst the youths. The youths have had their today and tomorrow strangulated by the old cargos that currently held the insignia of power. Sadly, the youths are not thinking. They have accepted that their future be mortgaged. The youths have refused to take their destiny into their hands. 

Those who ruled Ghana in first and second republics are still controlling the polity and economy of the country. How old was Dr. Botchey when he was appointed Minister; today, at his age, he still determines who get what, when and how in Ghana. Accra Metropolitan Assembly Boss under President Kuffour, Agyiri Blankson is 78, yet, he still want to be a Minister. Honourable Bagbin is still the heading the majority throne in parliament at his experience.

Member of Parliament, ET Mensah has been in Parliament at the advent of multi-party democracy and its first republic, but still remain a very powerful element in the country. Nana Addo, 71, has enjoyed power since; yet, he has refused to bow out. Sheikh Quaye, 76, has been in front line politics since 1969; yet, he has refused to retire for the younger generation to take over. Dr Richard Anane, is presently fighting 36 years old Stephen Amoah of Nhyiaso Constituency for political relevanc.

The nation of Ghana is presently being governed by those who had in one way or the other contributed to her woes, yet, the youths are looking. The current advocates of Change are not exempted. Akuffo Addo, Agyemang Rawlings and Dr. Ndoum all governed Ghana without achieving much. The Volta dynasty have been in charge of Volta Region  since the return of democratic rule to Ghana, yet, the region has the worst road network in Ghana. Dr. Kwabena Adjei has served as Minister and Chairman of National Democratic Congress, yet, the unemployment profile of the region is out of check. The progressives have been controlling the string and button of Ghana since 1992, yet, pipe borne water is not available for people to drink in the centre of capital despite the fact that the country is surrounded by water. 

 The Elites are rotating power amongst themselves while the large numbers of the less privileged youths are wallowing in squalor. Our fathers continue to recycle themselves in government instead of giving way for the younger generation. They made education, which most of them in the Ghana acquired free of charge, almost unaffordable with allowance on top.

The older generation has refused to retire and quit the civil service so that the younger ones could be employed. Instead, they continue to hang on by falsifying their age. The looting and widespread corruption by our fathers has battered the economy so badly that small and medium enterprises, which should be the main employers of labour aside the government, are virtually non-existent. 

Youths are the building blocks of a nation. The stronger, more vibrant and politically aware the youths are, the more developed the nation is. Countries that had empowered the younger generation in the past are now better off. David Cameroon became the Prime Minister of Britain at 43, one of his predecessors; Tony Blair has already retired from politics at 63. Americans elected Barrack Obama at 47.

Furthermore, Juan Barreto became the Prime Minister of Dominica at 32 in 2004. Joseph Kabila became the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo at 31 in 2001. Nikola Gruevski became the Prime Minister of Macedonia at 36 in 2006. Today, Macedonia has risen from a periphery nation to a semi-core country in the international politics. 

Mikheil Sakashvili fought a fierce battle against the order of gerontocracy in 2004; he triumphed and became the President of Georgia at 37. Faure Gnassingbe was inaugurated as the President of Togo at 39 in 2005. Bulgaria elected Sergei Stanishev as Prime Minister at 39 in 2005. Dmitry Medvedev made history when he became the youngest President of Russia in 2008 at 41. 

All the examples cited above are successes recorded in 21st century. In Ghana today, many youths at 36 are still single, looking for jobs whereas their mates are already Presidents and Prime Ministers in European and American sovereign nations. The next British Prime Minister might be a Nigerian. The young guy, Chuka Umunna, 37, a member of the British Parliament, hail from Anambra State. 

Unfortunately, I once coined a piece, arguing that age is not a barrier; hence, Nana Addo who served as Minister of Justice and Foreign Affairs becoming the President of Ghana at 72 is not a bad idea. While many Ghanaians wrote to commend me over the article, a colleague, a blogger, Ghana Institute of Journalism sent me a mail thus;

“My dear friend, you wrote well but I want to advise you to stop writing like an Ancient Analyst; start writing like a modern commentator. At your age, instead of demanding for generational shift, you are agitating for institutionalization of the politics of gerontocracy. My brother, though I am not a fan of Mahama, but we can count of many young people that he has empowered; please how many brilliant young Ghanaians can we trace to Addo Dankwa’s school of thought? I agree with you that the Akyem Mafia is the only one who can give the NDC the run for its money; he’s loved by the majority of his party folks, but through Nana’s utterances, it is obvious that the Kyebi born former parliamentarian has lost touch with the reality of 21 century. Ask, why Americans rejected Senator Mc Cain (71 then), in 2009? Akufu Addo is just being packaged by those who have money but lacks electoral value”, my friend concluded. 

Many people constantly intimidate the youths (in fact, the youths intimidate themselves as well) that we are too corrupt, but they did not say that our fathers and grandfathers used their ill-gotten wealth to destroy our sense of decency and value system. 

Most Ghanaian youths are so disconnected from political happenings and government’s activities; as they do not know or care how they are being governed. The way youth argue blindly on social media whenever salient national issues are raised call for concern. 

One of the cogent reasons Ghana is moving a step forward then four steps backward is because we lack vibrant and informed youths. We youth are supposed to be the center of gravity of the society. The youth should be the ‘life’ of a society. The youth should be the hope for a better and brighter future of any society. But this is not the case in Ghana.

Even the older generation does not have ample confidence in us. In Ghana today, our leaders have abandoned the youths to start grooming their children who will eventually take over from them. It is not surprising, therefore, that most of our former and outgoing ministers, District Chief Executives, Members of Parliament, Ministers and Presidents have strategically “planted” their children into politics. 

Now, I begin to wonder and ponder, what then is the gain of millions of youth who support these leaders? Is it that the youths aren’t good for anything than being used for “bugabuga jobs” only to be dumped afterwards? For how long shall we continue like this? Ghanaian youths, where lay the spirit of class struggle?