Already, there is some growing mistrust and suspicion between the two major political parties, as the electioneering begins to gather some momentum for its final berth on November 7, where the next President as well as new legislators will be selected.
This seething tension between the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) is making some people jump to conclusion about a possible eruption of some form of political violence before, during or after the polls.
This premonition is based on the deep-seated suspicion that one group of politicians wants to outsmart the other in the polls, through rigging.
Worse of all, the tactics and strategies political parties and their members, especially the front-liners, adopt leave much room for concern, because of the unorthodox methods and the half truths that they peddle in order to win some votes from the electorate.
From the government side, it has already started hammering on its achievements over the last three years under the leadership of President John Dramani Mahama, particularly in the provision of infrastructure such as schools, roads, hospitals and clinics.
Lately, the ruling party has also put in the public domain, the number of people who have been given employment within that same period, which stood at 800,000.
Even though the NDC tag these as gargantuan achievements unsurpassable in the annals of Ghana’s history, a lot of people, particularly NPP faithful, have made mockery of these evidence-based achievements currently being showcased by the President on his ‘Accounting To The People Tour’.
Well, all these claims are for the determination of the discerning electorate who will make informed choices come November 7.
However, it is difficult for one to determine how and what should constitute one’s message to the people while on the campaign trail or canvassing for votes.
It is, therefore, with heavy heart that I express my disappointment over the claim by Mrs Dzifa Attivor, the former Minister of Transport, that the NPP is a tribal party bent on prosecuting only Ewes if it wins the general election.
The report quoted Mrs Attivor as saying that when the NPP won power in 2001, most past Ewe ministers were imprisoned, including the late former Deputy Minister of Finance, Victor Selormey, and the former Deputy Minister of Trade and Industries, Mr Dan Abodakpi.
She, therefore, reminded the NDC members in the Volta Region to vote massively for the NDC so that what befell some NDC top guns from the region does not happen to any Ewe in the current government.
Already the backlash she has received is overwhelming while the request made to her to retract and apologise is in the right direction.
The Chairman of the National Peace Council, Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Asante, was uncharitable with her and I think even though Mrs Attivor has not yet conceded that she goofed big time, I know her conscience would be pricking her and she would ultimately accept the fact that she did not act with decorum.
Mrs Attivor used to be one of the hardworking and very accommodating ministers when she was in government.
Over the period that I had known her, she had hardly exhibited any traces of insolence towards any media person. Besides, she was one of the few ministers who easily opened up to anyone who visited her at home as a result of the open-door policy she operated at the time.
I was surprised to hear her speak that way in her mother tongue and wondered what had come over her which warranted her playing the ethnic card.
It is too early for our politicians to start poisoning the atmosphere. Let’s all be civil and decorous with our speeches and campaign messages.
