Don't allow ethnicity to undermine national cohesion - MP

Mr Fritz Bafour, Member of Parliament for Ablekuma South at the weekend advised Ghanaians not to allow political and ethnic differences to fester and undermine national cohesion.

He said Ghanaians were endowed with a common heritage due to the country’s great ethnic dynamics adding that the factor should serve as a disincentive to segregate the citizenry, particularly on partisan-political lines.

Mr Bafour, who is also the Board Chairman of Ghana Museums and Monuments, was speaking at an event organized to mark the 10th Anniversary of Elmina-Java Museum and the premiering of a documentary “Footprints of the Brave: The Story of the Black Dutchmen”.

The documentary is based on the history of African soldiers who were recruited between 1831 and 1872 to serve in the Dutch colonial army.

It was produced by Yaw Ohene Dankwa, a historian.

Mr Bafour underscored the importance of preservation of the country’s cultural heritage and stressed that it was critical for development.

“Our history is the foundation that we will use to build a better glory for Ghana”, he added.

Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, a leading member of the Convention People’s Party, reiterated the call on Ghanaians to contribute towards national cohesion.

He described the citizenry as a hybrid of other races saying, “Ghanaians were indigenously a mixed race. If you test by means of a DNA-technology, you will not be able to get any Ghanaian from any tribe that is pure”.

Prof Akosa therefore urged the citizenry to contribute towards lowering the high political temperature that sometimes characterizes national discourses.