Accra, Feb. 13, GNA - Mr Alban Bagbin, Minority Leader, on Tuesday said it was always prudent for government to set an agenda on issues of leadership qualities, economic and the political direction of the nation.
He said through discourse, brainstorming and suggestions, a refined national policy could be attained and that government should not relegate its responsibilities to the media to set the agenda because the media in their enthusiasm to sell their products come out with sensational issues, which made the public to go on the binge, neglecting pressing national issues.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an
interview on current diatribe on two presidential
candidates, Mr Bagbin said it was rather the
government, which should establish leadership qualities
that were needed for the governance of the country. The Minority Leader noted that most political parties
had not yet evolved the kind of leader they needed and
whether that leader should be vibrant, knowledgeable,
fit to lead the country and not become a pawn to
international or global manipulations. "And again do the people who elect their leaders
understand geopolitics so that the country could fit into
globalisation and have a competitive advantage", he
asked. Mr Bagbin said government should empower the
National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to
educate the public on leadership issues, quality of
leadership and the characteristics of leaders. He said it was also necessary for papers to be
presented to the Institute of Economics Affairs (IEA)
and the Ghana Institute of Management and Public
Administration (GIMPA) and other allied bodies to
brainstorm on socio-economic issues within a context. Such research works and presentations coming
from informed sources should lead to national debates
that would form the basis for policies, saying: "It is
here that the media's role is critical to national
development. Mr Bagbin said it was unfortunate that "We pay a
lot of attention to social and political rights than to
economic rights". He said, "free speech which is also a right can lead
to destruction if one has no economic life."
