Finally My Thoughts III- Tribalism in Ghana

I won't throw away money at every problem in Ghana in an attempt to develop the country. I would, however, support any worth while endeavor which could bring about meaningful changes in our society. As I told our forum some time ago, many of us are stilll interested in politics but we prefer to start at the grassroot level and build a political organization. Without a formidable political base, one cannot successfully run for any elected position in Ghana. The hungry sycophants among the electorate with the encouragment of the political opponents, would pretend to be your supporters as long as you are perceived to have deep pocket from overseas. In the end, most of the people would take your money and run without voting for you. This is one of the main reasons why anybody who has lived abroad for an extensive period of time should think of starting a political campaign from the grassroots and build a political organization before entering politics in Ghana. Using allegiance to one's tribe, curse words,fear, and divisiveness in national campaigns as have been going on in Ghana over the years in an attempt to win national elections is not a good strategy. I wholeheartedly condemn and frown upon anybody who uses tribal affiliation and religion to divide the people. What happened to appealing to peoples HOPES? The political demagogues in our mist must be exposed and not allowed to destabilize the nation. We love Ghana too much. It is the only country we have.

If I had my way, all political contests would be won or lost based on better new ideas presented by the candidates. Ideally, tribal affiliation should be a non factor especially when it comes to electing who should become the president of the Republic. The part of Ghana where a person comes from should never be allowed to become the main qualification for the presidency. It's unfortunate and very shameful when I read some of the comments on articles posted on the Ghanaweb. It's sickening!! If we are preoccupied with tribalism in this 21st century, then our country would have no future. I am scared for Ghana as a cohesive nation state. We must work assiduously as adults to bring our people together otherwise we may fall victim to the "Rwandan syndrome" if this obsession with tribalism continues. Our leaders, from the ruling NPP government, and the main opposition NDC must unite to confront, and condemn this scourge of hatred, animosity and senesless tribal discrimination among others. Either we unite as a people and develop or we perish separately in disunity and acrimony.

I care a lot about who becomes the president of Ghana but the tribe,and region of the country where the president comes from should never be the main qualification to the highest office in the land. I would be more interested in the president's political philosophy, ideology, economic plans, strategy,etc to move the country forward instead of his/her ethnicity. Let's favor and choose competency over tribal affiliation in electing our president. We should stop reading tribal sentiments into every problem and into every solution. We need national unity to build and achieve a sustainable level of economic growth. We are too far behind the Koreans and the other Asian Tigers. The symptoms of tribalism are too pervasive in Ghana today to be ignored by the leaders of the country. It is endemic and must be tackled head on without missing words. As Martin Luther King aptly stated in his "I Have a Dream Speech, " a person should be judged by the contents of his character and not by his skin color, or religion . . . In Ghana's case, we should judge every president, every potential presidential candidate, and everybody standing for any elected office or position by the contents of his/her character and ideas to build the country, and not by the tribe he or she comes from. I always cry for my country when I read disgusting obsession with tribal hatred and sentiments on the internet and in the newspapers.

Please judge me by what I have written in this article and not by how name sounds, my religion or where you think I come from in Ghana. Let's be civil in our comments and discussion. Civility is good for the body politic and Ghana's future as a unified state.

Long Live GHANA.

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