By Daniel Nii Okine
The political theater in Ghana has reached a predictable, yet infuriating crescendo. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) and its affiliates are crying foul over the current administration’s establishment of specialized accountability tribunals. They call it vindictive. They call it an institutional overreach. But their moral outrage is built on an extreme foundation of historical amnesia and sheer hypocrisy.
Let us be clear: those who are weeping today are the very architects of the precedents they now condemn.We were all here when the NPP administration established the Fast Track High Courts. At the time, it was packaged beautifully under the banner of “Zero Tolerance for Corruption.” When the legalities of those specialized courts were challenged, the NPP fought tooth and nail in the courts and in the court of public opinion until their position prevailed. Back then, bypassing the sluggish standard courts to speed up the prosecution of state looters was hailed by the NPP as a masterclass in good governance.
Why is the narrative shifting now? Why is a specialized judicial mechanism brilliant when the NPP builds it, but an assault on democracy when another administration implements it?
The truth is as simple as it is ugly: the looters are terrified.
For too long, the political elite has survived on a cozy system of mutual protection. The corrupt within the NPP have mastered the art of sharing their illicit loot with select, equally corrupt elements across the political aisle, buying themselves insurance policies for when power inevitably shifts. It is a cross-party cartel that operates at the expense of ordinary citizens, ensuring that no matter who wins an election, the thieves remain safe.But this time around, the cycle must be broken. To any element within the current administration who thinks they can secretly collaborate with their predecessors to shield them from justice: know this, you will go down with them. The fight to recover our national wealth will spare no one based on the color of their party smock.
This is exactly why these tribunals require unyielding public support. They are here to do an aggressive, specific job: asset recovery and rapid accountability. The forces currently wasting time with media lamentations and manufactured outrage are simply fighting the inevitable.
Let us face facts. The current administration needs these tribunals, not just to hold the previous government accountable, but to serve as a mirror and a warning to its own ranks. The reality is that greed exists across the political spectrum. Some within the current government have already begun to eye the state coffers. If the previous looters are allowed to walk away scot-free with their spoils, the thieves within the current regime will be emboldened to do far worse.
We are already running out of time to redeem the soul of this democracy. Standard, sluggish bureaucratic processes are no longer enough to deal with the sophisticated plunder of state resources. The NPP set the precedent with their Fast Track courts when it suited them. They cannot now play the victim when the exact same principles of specialized, rapid accountability are turned upon them to recover what belongs to the people.
The tribunals are set. The double standards must end, and the recovery must begin.
By : Daniel Nii Okine – Social commentator .
