Let’s focus on development issues — JOY
The sole independent presidential candidate of the 2012 Election, Mr Jacob Osei Yeboah (JOY), has underscored the need for the nation to focus on development issues rather than who becomes the next presidential candidate of a political party.
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In his view, the nation lags behind in every aspect of the development ladder, so focusing on what he calls the needless agenda of who becomes the next presidential candidate of a political party, especially that of the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party, is wrong.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Mr Osei-Yeboah argued that elections were won primarily to give an opportunity to political parties to work to meet the development needs and aspirations of its people.
It will be wrong for a political party to win elections, only to begin to focus on who becomes the next presidential candidate.
“We have just come out of Election 2012 and what is taking media space is who becomes the next presidential candidate. I think I will blame the media also for providing valuable air and print space for such an enterprise,” Mr Osei Yeboah lamented.
As a nation, he stressed the need for us to come together and find solutions to the myriad of problems facing it.
“I think that after the Supreme Court judgement on the 2012 election petition, “one of the greatest challenge facing the nation is to nurture and deepen democratic governance and the rule of law.”
But unfortunately, in the view of Mr Osei-Yeboah, “our action and utterances are rather suffocating the baby called rule of law by the so-called architects of rule of law.”
“The ramification is that, in 2016, if we do not take care, the elections will be more bloodier because of what we are doing to ourselves,as a nation,” he stated.
According to Mr Osei Yeboah, all of us should be mindful of the kind of peace we intend to nurture saying peace is not necessarily the absence of violence but also the creation of jobs, providing good health, sanitation, water, electricity and education as well as meeting the aspirations of the people.
“We should start thinking of how to have an all inclusive governance and do away with the winner-takes-all mentality which most conflicts emanate from.”
He challenged the Ghanaian voter to seek all-inclusive-governance and national development agenda from politicians before the 2016 elections, arguing that “all-inclusive-governance is not only about politicians but involves the participation of the entire society.”
He said that all-inclusive-governance fell in line with mitigating the powers of the executive.
Mr Osei Yeboah, therefore, called on President John Dramani Mahama to put in place a system to ensure an all-inclusive governance in his administration.
He also called on him to lead in the fight against corruption by putting in place stronger and firm institutions.
On the outcome of the 2012 election petition by the Supreme Court, Mr Osei Yeboah called on the National Commission for Civic Education to be up and doing and begin a programme to educate the masses on the judgement.
“The NCCE should educate us on the judgement instead of allowing politicians or the so-called architects of the rule of law to do so,” Mr Osei Yeboah advised.
By Kobby Asmah/Daily Graphic/Ghana