Charting Ghana’s New Paradigm (3)

By Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Abbey-Quaye The impact of this meeting should trickle down to all citizens, but particularly, party foot soldiers and apparatchiks, to try to put Ghana first in all their actions, while working through their differences to end all unnecessary political bickering and rancour. We must all learn to agree to disagree agreeably, while joining forces to build a Ghana that all of us will be proud of. We owe it a duty to ourselves and to our future to work in unison to build a new and better Ghana. It must be the hope and prayer of all Ghanaians that this maiden meeting and the subsequent ones that may follow will inure to the great benefit of all citizens and help contribute to Ghana’s political stability and economic development. The historic meeting of our past and current Presidents teaches us that it is possible to hold different political ideologies and views and still work together as Ghanaians. Our leaders have shown us the way and so we the citizens must follow their shining example. Observing Decorum in Action and Speech: The Way Forward for a New Ghana Ghana is a country where cultural and traditional values such as honesty, truthfulness, respect for the elderly, hardwork and other noble virtues, have been cherished and promoted since time immemorial. Successive generations of people have over the years placed huge emphasis on good moral upbringing of children thereby ensuring that at every moment in time, there are people in society who are cultured, honest, courteous and trustworthy. In Ghana, one of the most important values we cherish or hold dear is the observance of decorum in speech and action, which constitutes an important hallmark of our cultural heritage and pride. Unfortunately, this long-cherished value is today under serious threat owing to a multiplicity of factors, including the influence of foreign cultures, the breakdown of traditional family system, rapid secularization brought about by post-modernity, among others. Beside these factors, another phenomenon that is beginning to pose a threat to decent language in Ghana today is partisan politics, unfortunately. Since the country returned to constitutional democracy a little over twenty-five years ago, we have witnessed some incredible display and use of indecent language and arrogance in speech among some politicians who sometimes delude themselves into thinking that they hold the political office and authority by their own merit and so can speak anyhow they want to their constituents and the citizens of the nation as a whole. It is strange that some of these politicians have still not realized that the time has come for the nation to move away from the politics of lies, propaganda, insults and deceit, and are still engrossed in the negative politics of days long past even though Ghanaians have time and over again expressed their disgust over such behaviour. Politically, Ghanaians today are very much awake and alert than years gone by and can make a clear distinction between those who are telling them the truth and speaking decently to them and those who are just telling them lies, insulting and doing propaganda. They see the difference, they know the difference and they can tell the difference. No amount of insults, lies or propaganda can sway them from their convictions and they will decide what they want during elections, not based on deceits but on their own convictions. One takes them for granted at one’s own peril. Therefore, it is important that politicians of Ghana begin to appreciate and understand the dynamics and be prudent and honest in their speech and action. Let those who have made propaganda, insults and lies their stock in trade begin to move away from them for these do not serve any purpose. Politics and the political office are not for insults, propaganda and lies but for service. Indecent language must have no place in Ghana’s politics today. We ought to begin to chart a new course for a new Ghana where the conduct of politics will be transparent, honest and decent. Ghana’s Parliament and Some Emerging Issues Since the beginning of this year, the Parliament of Ghana has been in the news and sometimes, for the wrong reasons. In one of his “epistles” at the beginning of the year, Ghana’s citizen vigilante, Mr. Martin A. K. Amidu, alleged that there was corruption in Ghana’s Parliament and called on the honourable house to do some house cleaning to redeem its image.