The Hypocrisy in The Ghanaian Politics
Politics of division is
not new. It is very common at all levels within and without all the
political parties we have in Ghana. And so for one to speak as though politics
of division is so new to the Ghanaian politics, is a clear hypocrisy!
There is no sanity in our politics. We have seen gruesome
manifestation of politics of division all around us spearheaded by our
political actors. It has not started with the sitting President and it will not
stop with him! It will certainly outlive him.
So it has become a reality that we either have to embrace or
annihilate completely from our politicking. But it will be very very difficult
because tribal factors have always influenced the outcome of our elections.
In fact, our politics is so bad to the extent that the
health status of opponents have become a new trend in our politics. It has come
to be accepted however very worrisome.
In the run up to the 2008 elections, the health status of
the late President Prof. JEA Mills (RIP) became a serious campaign issue that
generated so much political capital. Almost every political opponents decided
to take a bite. Rumours of his death were announced intermittently. Some of us
felt very sad at the development.
Take it or leave it; Ghanaian politics is not focused on
issues. It is more about personality , ethnicity and health of contestants. When it started
with late Mills, we never had the courage to speak against. We thought it was
all about him. If we had done so, we wouldn't have been here today.
One won't be wrong to say that some of our Ghanaian
politicians are simply lazy. Here is why: if you take a look around the world,
people are engaged in politics that is issue-focused. They don't dwell on
persons of others. They do research and they know what the issues are. But it
is the exact opposite in Ghana. In order not to appear as though they don't
have campaign message, they pick on a few issues but devote the greater part of
their time to engage in personality attacks. It's sad, you know. So if you see
any politician attacking the person of others, #tag him as a #lazy #politician.
We have often seen responsible leaders make very
ethnocentric and derogatory statements that ought to have been condemned
outright but that never happened. Instead, we hailed them as heroes. If we hail
one person, then we must be ready to hail others for making such statements
too. Otherwise, the impression that would be created is that, some people are
more qualified to make such statements and get away with it than the rest of
us. In any case, what does one gain from making ethnocentric statements? Is
their any value associated with it? Well, I guess there is.
So, can any party, especially the NPP and NDC claim a clean
sheet? Obviously, as much as both are liable, one party is ahead of the other
but each carries a dented sheet! And it is difficult for one to teach the other
good morals. If one person has stolen a goat and the other has stolen a tuber
of yam, they're both thieves. It matters not the strategies involved or the
item. So let's call spade a spade and stop the hypocrisy which has nothing to
benefit us!
This is just the beginning. Very soon, we shall see them
jumping at each other's throat. But don't forget to put the lazy tag on those
who are engaged in that.
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