Ghana has arguably being the most peaceful and stable country in the West African sub-region especially over the last two decades.
In 1993, the country decided, after a decade of military dictatorship, to practise multiparty democracy. And during this dispensation, six successful elections have been held except the last one in December 2012 that ended up at the Supreme Court.
Even that eight-month political litigation was resolved peacefully with the decision of the court to uphold the election of President John Mahama.
We have made strides in the fields of governance but the dividends are yet to inure to the benefit of majority of the people.
It is our expectation that a stable and peaceful environment should provide the opportunity for all to fight poverty, reduce unemployment and grow the economy.
On the contrary, the economy is not growing as expected and the unemployment gap deepens, resulting in the phenomenon today called ‘graduate unemployment’.
There is also a negative development arising out of our political governance. The society has become polarised along the two major political parties – the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) – to such an extent that beyond the public show of co-operation, we hate the industriousness of our political opponents.
Not too long ago, the assumption of office of a new government meant the loss of jobs by people perceived not to belong to the ranks of the ruling party.
Fortunately, there seems to be a better understanding of the need to give equal opportunities to all to contribute their quota to nation building irrespective of political colour, but we still have a long way to attain an all-inclusive public service.
We need to understand that there is no way the country can make greater strides if a section of the society is sidelined on account of their political beliefs.
It is a dangerous path to thread, particularly when the last two elections divide the strengths of the NDC and NPP at almost 50 per cent. Some may argue that so long as political power is won, the “spoils of war” should be distributed to only those who worked for the attainment of power.
However, we should not forget that beyond the political appointments, there are other areas of development that require all hands on deck to attain better standard of living for all.
In our society like elsewhere, the political class comprises, to a large extent, friends at school, known people in the community, professional associates and religious groups, but when they congregate in their political groupings, they hold their political opponents in contempt.
This same group of people will demonstrate openly that there is no bad blood among the political opponents. But this display of friendship is only cosmetic.
It is in this context that the Daily Graphic appeals to President John Mahama to do all within his power to meet the political leaders regularly to demonstrate to their supporters that beyond the ideologies, we are one people with a common destiny.
We believe this kind of engagement will help to ease the political tension in the country and create equal opportunities for all to attain their God-given talents.
