Today, they laugh and justify their actions. In fact, they point fingers and refer us to 2019, as if this is some game of equalization. So that is it, right? Tit for tat. Injury for injury. Hurt for hurt. Is that where we are now as a people?
We were all here when a group of MPs boldly hosted flyers calling a female MP “bloody widow” and many clapped and laughed. But when a similar act was done on their side, they cried foul. Suddenly, the rules changed. The outrage returned.
What you laugh at and justify today, may you still hold the same position when the tables turn. That is the true test of principle. That is the measure of conscience.
Just as in The Merchant of Venice, when Shylock said:
“If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh?
If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?”
You may justify your actions against others, but you do not determine how they will react. Pain is personal. Reactions are human. When you ignite fire, you do not get to decide who feels the heat most.
For some of us, despite our political interests and party affiliations, we will never condone violence or injustice, no matter where it comes from. Call us names. Misunderstand us. But we will always stand for peaceful, fair, and safe elections.
I still cannot wrap my head around why someone must lose their life just because they wanted to vote. Just because they wanted their voice to count. I honestly do not get it.
To what end? To win power? At all cost?
And now, we are digging up Ayawaso West Wuogon as a reference point to justify the atrocities of today. It scares me. It scares me to think of what may happen in the future if we do not rise and speak against this now.
The irony is, violence has no fixed target. Today it is them, tomorrow it could be you. It could be me. There will always be casualties. Innocent ones. That is why we have seen journalists harassed and beaten. That is why people live in fear when elections are near.
So when will it all end?
This politics of retaliation. This hunger to equalize pain. This obsession with who did it first or who did it more. This tired game of tit for tat. Do we ever stop to ask: who really wins?
They say, “Oh, we complained back then and nothing was done, so this is fair.” They say, “We are only responding to what was done to us.” So today, they also beat and silence. Tomorrow, the others will rise and do same. And so the pendulum swings. From one side to the other. From pain to pain. From blood to blood.
But if this pendulum never stops, then where does it take us? If power only shifts the targets of violence and not the value for life, where does that lead us?
We are becoming numb. And that is dangerous. Because when you justify wrong once, it becomes easier to justify it again. And again. Until wrong becomes your new right.
Who is ever right in violence? Who wins when citizens bleed? Who is celebrated when a journalist is slapped? When a voter is shot? When people are chased for exercising a civic duty?
No one wins. We all lose. Our peace loses. Our democracy loses. Our conscience loses.
And yet, we continue. Justifying. Excusing. Applying lip service. Explaining away the hurt. We are too focused on the political scorecard and too blind to the human cost.
For those of us who still believe in principle over politics, we will continue to speak. We will write. We will question. We will insist on fairness. We will insist on peace.
Because if we do not stop now, then one day, the pendulum may swing so hard that it breaks.
And with it, so will our peace.
By Victor Raul Puobabangna Plance from Eggu in the Upper West Region of Ghana
#Puobabangna
