VIOLENCE BEGETS VIOLENCE  

'Violence begets violence, Azorka boys will not act violently if they are not provoked. The other side also brought… the Invincible Forces, the Bolga Bulldogs…what I mean is that if you are a peace - lover and someone attacks you, definitely you have to protect yourself.' Mark Woyongo--Ghana's Interior Minister

'Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that--Martin Luther King, Jnr.

MARK WOYONGO, the Minister of the Interior, will be remembered for his quoting: 'Violence begets violence' in an attempt to explain away the troubles that brewed in Talensi during the recent by- election in that Constituency. Most decent-minded Ghanaians were shocked and dumbfounded when they heard the Minister of the Interior trying to justify the actions of the militant group or groups. Would licensing them solve the problems generated by them?

When Martin Luther King Jnr. used the expression in his books entitled 'Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? and 'Stride Towards Freedom: The Montgomery Story', he explained that; 'Hate begets hate. Violence begets violence, toughness begets greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love. Our aim must never be to defeat or humiliate the white man, but to win his friendship and understanding'. In his 'I have a dream' epistle, he 'dreamt' that 'one day little black boys and black girls will be able join hands with little white boys and little white girls as brothers and sisters… that one day on the red hill of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave - owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood…'

Niccolo di Bernado dei Machiavelli (1469 – 1527) wrote 'The Prince', and he was advising the leaders of Italy, particularly the new prince that would emerge after Cesare Borgia who had been overthrown by the Medici: 'Men should be either treated generously or destroyed because they take revenge for slight injuries - for heavy ones they cannot.' He added in a self - serving and callous manner: 'If injury has to be done to a man, it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared… politics have no relation to morals'. And after all, 'the ends justify the means'.

The term 'machiavellian is associated with evil, malice and wicked self - centredness, lacking in morals and ethical rules; it provides for the logic of self - preservation, when he stresses, '… a prince must not have any objective nor any thought, nor take up any art, other than the art of war and its ordinary and discipline'. 'Old Nick' is an English term for the devil, and the source is believed to have come from Nicolo (Nicholas)—apologies to all those fine gentlemen who are called 'Nicholas'.

The exhortation was ideal for the advocates and adherents of the 'divine right of kings' and dictators, including benevolent dictators and the 'men on horse-back'.

Woyongo must have read very widely. He must have encountered Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi), the young Indian protester who applied non - violent demonstrations to achieve independence for India in 1947. Gandhi adopted 'satyagraha' (insistence on truth) and noted: 'Truth (satya) implies love, and firmness (agraha serves as a synonym for force. I thus began to call the movement 'satyagraha', that is to say, the Force which is born of truth and love or non-violence'. In a 19-rule guide, Gandhi urged his followers to (1) harbour no anger, (2) suffer the anger of the opponent, (3) never retaliate to assaults or punishment, but not submit out of fear of punishment or assault, to an order given in anger, (4) voluntarily submit to arrest or confiscation of your own property…(7) not insult the opponent…(10) as a prisoner, behave courteously and obey prison regulations,… (18) avoid occasions that may give rise to communal quarrel, (19) not take part in processions that would wound the religious sensibilities of any community. Acknowledging his mentors, Gandhi wrote in his autobiography 'The Story of my Experiments with Truth', that he got his inspiration from Leo Tolstoy who 'overwhelmed' him and 'left an abiding impression'. In 1908, Leo Tolstoy wrote 'A Letter to a Hindu' which outlined the concept of love as the only weapon through passive resistance by which the Indian people could overthrow the colonial British Empire. Tolstoy had had his philosophical treatise 'The Kingdom of God is Within You' banned in his native Russia and published in Germany in 1894. Woyongo must have read the Bible and noted Jesus' exhortation on 'Turning the other cheek' as part of the pontification in 'The Sermon on the Mount' as an alternative for the Mosaic law of 'an eye for an eye'. Again, when Peter drew his sword to smite a servant of the high priest, Jesus rebuked him thus: 'Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword'. I have a confession to make: I am not good at keeping Bible verses now. I cannot compare myself to my classmate, Boakye Ansah of Kenyasi. How unlike the 'What Do You Know' times (1976) when I could quote the verses from Genesis to Malachi (Old Testament) and Matthew to Revelation (New Testament).

Woyongo in his capacity as Minister -qua- Minister of the Interior could have used words that would pacify the victims of the attacks and toned down the tension. His further explanation on Kasapa FM hardly did anything of the sort: 'Violence begets violence is a truism, but that does not mean I support or endorse this violence. If you perpetrate violence you get violence in return. This is a statement of fact'.

Ghana has had a chequered history. There have been times in the past when violence prevailed. The atrocities committed by the Action Troopers (NLM) and Action Groupers (CPP) in the 1950s during the struggle for independence and the bomb-throwing episodes are a sad commentary of the time. During PNDC time, the Head of State, Flight Lieutenant J.J. Rawlings worked a theory of 'democratization of violence'. He was personally seen training young people how to fire various types of weapons. Rawlings signed the NDC Constitution with his own blood, after pricking his arm with a sharp pin-what was its significance? What did Professor Atta-Mills mean when he threatened that Ghana would be like Kenya? Nana Akufo-Addo said the NPP would resist violence at the polling stations during elections, citing how this was amply demonstrated at the by-election at Atiwa. He was berated by the 'babies with sharp teeth' for instigating violence. Nana Addo's spokespersons have essayed to explain this to mean 'Do not provoke others, but do not allow yourself to be provoked'. OR 'Resist any one who attempts to take your right from you'

Papa Kwesi Nduom, the PPP leader, who normally does not talk anything close to violence threatens to come up with a group of 'sea-horses' to counter the forces of the NDC and NPP, namely, the 'Azorka Boys' and the 'Invincible Force'. He says he has not stashed any cash in Swiss banks; all his investments are in Ghana, so he can ill-afford to see Ghana in ruins. Those who are preaching mayhem stand to lose nothing, because either they are penurious or have expatriated their wealth.

Resign or get sacked? Do these concepts operate in this land of our birth now? Wait till you hear of Woyongo's upliftment!

The National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osmanu Sharabutu cautions politicians against inciting their followers to violence in their bid to attain political power. The Qur'an admonishes Muslims not to insult the gods of idol-worshippers because they would in turn insult their God out of ignorance, the respected great man of Allah adds, as a timeous intervention.

Violence begets violence; power begets power; killings beget killings; and love begets love. Which one do we have to breed?

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Africanus Owusu-Ansah
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