One of the most beautiful traits of multi-party democracy is its ability to accommodate all shades of opinion in the development of a nation. Thus, when Ghana made the decision in 1992 to return to constitutional rule, many citizens and, indeed, the international community were of the view that it would bolster our development efforts.
Ghana has come a long way, 21 years on, smoothly changing ruling parties in transitions that have been the envy of many fellow African states.
In spite of this obvious progress in our democratic dispensation, the Daily Graphic is of the opinion that more progress would have been made if our politicians, and indeed, the citizenry adopted a more non-partisan approach to discussing and seeking solutions to the myriad of problems that confront the nation.
We recall the animosity that characterised the debates on the duration for the senior high schools, following the partisan nature of the debates and that of the various housing projects planned by both the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party administrations as examples.
We dare say the solutions to some of these problems have left us with situations in which there is a lot of mistrust of our leaders, in politics, social and religious circles.
We saw it recently in the United States of America when the introduction of a health insurance scheme by President Barak Obama (Obamacare) was nearly marred due to the partisan stance of political leaders in that country. The result is now history.
The most intriguing thing is that on social platforms, most people who are seen as partisan treat their friends, family members and even perfect strangers with a lot of goodwill. However, when they talk about politics and act politics, the loss of perspective is dramatic.
In politics, it is common to find committed members of political parties who strongly support their party's policies and are reluctant to compromise with their political opponents. However, if this kind of situation is allowed to hold sway, the nation is unable to tap all its resources for the betterment of its people, whose interest all political parties profess to serve.
This is the reason why the Daily Graphic takes sides with the Christian Council’s observation that the partisan manner in which we deal with national issues is not helping our development efforts.
In a five-page resolution, the council touched on many issues of national importance, from road accidents to health, education, electoral reforms, Merchant Bank sale, the Tobinco saga, corruption and the state of the economy, among others, criticised in one breath and offers commendation where it deemed necessary.
The Christian Council itself, at one point or another in the recent past, had been criticised by sections of the community for keeping quiet when it needed to be heard and criticising when, in the opinion of their critics, such criticism was uncalled for.
Another year has just begun and the Christian Council, which has a prophetic role as a development partner with a responsibility to nation-building efforts, has given us food for thought.
As a nation, we need to recognise that our destiny lies in our own hands and it is only in unity of purpose and convergence of ideas that we will be able to achieve the development we desire.
