Tomorrow, March 6, Ghana will mark 60 years of Freedom from colonial rule. In celebrating this Diamond Jubilee, we should not be oblivious of the great sacrifices that our Founding Fathers, Kwame Nkrumah, Ebenezer Ako-Adjei, Joseph Boakye Danquah, Emmanuel Obetsebi Lamptey, William Ofori Atta and Edward Akufo-Addo, made to free us from British colonial rule.
The Catholic Standard feels that our Founding Fathers definitely did not fight for us to be worse off than we were before and immediately after Independence. There may be arguments for and against this assertion. What is clear however is that what some people may see as progress may not be considered as integral development by others. The putting up of structures to the neglect of the formation of the human-being does not necessarily bring about development.
A country that has high levels of indiscipline, intolerance, disputes, feuds, corruption, poverty, and what have you, will never develop as a nation. The main challenges militating against our development may be summed up in one word –Indiscipline.
A cursory look around suggests that we are perpetuating acts of indiscipline in all facets of our lives, for example, political, economic, religious, chieftaincy, employer and employee indiscipline, and many more.
We have a lot of work ahead of us. The laws of Ghana should be made to work. Let us first be disciplined and tolerant of each other and all other ingredients for development will fall in place.
Secondly, The Catholic Standard wishes to refer to a statement captured in the preamble of the ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ document which states that “We are determined to foster peaceful, just and inclusive societies which are free from fear and violence. There can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development”.
We have to understand that we gain a lot if we co-exist peacefully, and we lose greatly if we fight against one another. Ghana has many ethnic groups with diverse ideas, cultures and practices. Whether one comes from the largest, the most successful, the ruling class or the smallest and insignificant ethnic group, all of us should have equal rights and equal stake in this country we call Ghana.
The emphasis on issues about masters and slaves, superiors and inferiors make some societies develop and harbour lasting hatred, disgust and ill-feeling about other societies. There is no gainsaying that these have the predisposition and propensity to divide us more than unite us.
We have lived for far too long under the negative notion of ‘We and Them’. We the Ga people, We the Asantes, We Fantes, We Nzema’s, We Dagombas, We Kassena, We Grunis, We Ewes, etc. What have we achieved by these claims? Pride that does not necessarily bring about peaceful co-existence and nation-building.
The Catholic Standard would like to add its voice to the clarion call by the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, in several of its Communiques on the need for discipline and peaceful co-existence.
We, therefore use the celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of Ghana to remind all Ghanaians that this is the time to move away from indiscipline, negative and disruptive tendencies of ‘we and them.’
Let us also start the fight against discrimination through dialogue, collaboration and co-operation based on respect, trust and the appreciation of the contribution of each ethnic, religious and political group to promote co-existence.
Let us work together by evolving a new approach to building a happy, prosperous, peaceful, greater and stronger nation for all of us.
Happy Diamond Independence Day celebrations.
