Religious, traditional leaders must show maturity, neutrality - Prof. Omane-Antwi
The Board Chairman of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), Prof. K.B Omane-Antwi, has expressed disquiet about the current trend where some religious and traditional leaders openly declare support for or endorse some presidential candidates for the 2016 elections.
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As independent arbiters, religious and traditional leaders must show maturity and neutrality in their day-to-day activities to keep Ghana intact because there is only one Ghana, he reasoned.
Prof. Omane-Antwi, who was speaking at the penultimate edition of the Daily Graphic Town Hall meeting between political party representatives and voters at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences Auditorium in Accra yesterday, noted that religious and traditional authorities would not be showing the needed leadership if they continued to engage in such brazen endorsement of presidential candidates against the norms of society and the 1992 Constitution..
According to Prof. Omane-Antwi who chaired the occasion, prophecies of electoral victories by some religious leaders and declaration of support by some chiefs were not helping to keep the nation together and for that matter promote peace in the country.
Prof. Omane-Antwi said chiefs were custodians of the cultural heritage of the country and would lower their respect if they declared their support for a particular political party.
He said by so doing, they could not be counted on to broker peace when there was an electoral dispute at the end of the polls.
“This is because they would have destroyed the traditional mechanisms for handling disputes and thus bring into question the peaceful role they are supposed to play by declaring their support for one political party,” Prof Omane-Antwi said.
He said as citizens, pastors should continue to pray for peaceful election and not engage in prophecies and declaration of support for some political parties at the expense of others.
Prof. Omane-Antwi, a Vice Rector of the Pentecost University, expressed the hope that the December polls would be peaceful since Ghana had had the experience of conducting peaceful elections over the years.
He, therefore, called on all stakeholders to continue to pray for peace in the coming election, saying, “As citizens, let us ensure peace on December 7, 2016.”
Caution against emotions
On political discourse in the country, Prof. Omane-Antwi who is also the immediate past President of the Institute of Chartered Accountant-Ghana cautioned against emotional discussions which sometimes brought tension to the society.
He said sometimes, it was sad to note that “In discussing issues dispassionately, we have rather allowed our emotions to come into play.”
“This is not good for the peace of the country,” he cautioned.
Prof Omane-Antwi said he was particularly looking forward to a political party that would promise to deal with and change the time management of Ghanaians.
He, therefore, called on the participants in the Town Hall Meeting to digest the issues raised by the party representatives and go out on December 7, 2016 to vote for what was fit and right.
He described the Daily Graphic Town Hall engagements as part of GCGL’s civic obligations to ensure good governance.
In his view, good governance mattered as far as development was concerned, saying, “Without good governance, corruption and inefficiency are very rife in the society.”
Equal coverage
In his welcome address, the Director of Newspapers at GCGL, Mr Yaw Boadu Ayeboafoh, assured the gathering that as a state-owned organisation, the GCGL had a responsibility towards all political parties to give them equal coverage in their political activities.
GCGL Town Hall Meeting
The Daily Graphic Town Hall Meeting is an election-year platform that brings political parties face-to-face with the voters, where parties give their policy proposals and voters seek clarification, all with the key objective to deepen and consolidate multi-party democracy in the country.
The Accra meeting which was on the theme: “Good Governance, Key to Development and Growth in Ghana” was the fifth in the series of Town Hall Meetings organised by the GCGL to give political parties the platform to speak on five thematic areas; namely infrastructure, energy, job creation, agriculture and education.
The parties that participated in the one-day event were the National Democratic Party (NDP), the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP). The party representatives are Mr Ametor Quarymne of the NDC, Mr Kofi Siaw of the PPP, Mr David Annang of the NPP and Mrs Peace Aryee of the NDP.
The People’s National Convention (PNC) and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) representatives failed to participate.
Town Hall events
Already, four Town Hall events have been held in Bolgatanga, Sunyani, Koforidua and Cape Coast in the Upper East, Brong Ahafo, Eastern and Central regions respectively in the last three months.
As part of the four events already organised by the GCGL, there have been radio discussions on various FM stations where the Director od Newspapers at the GCGL, Mr Boadu Ayeboafoh; the Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Ransford Tetteh; and the Political Editor, Mr Kobby Asmah, threw light on the event.
