The Chairpersons of political parties with representations in Parliament have called on the various political commentators to ensure sanity in their discussions, especially in the Media.
The four Chairpersons were from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), New Patriotic Party (NPP), People’s National Convention (PNC) and the Convention People’s Party (CPP).
They made the call during the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) retreat with the Caucus of Political Party Chairpersons under its Ghana’s Political Parties Programme (GPPP) at Senchi.
Alhaji Ahmed Ramadan, Chairman of the PNC said, insults and peddling of falsehood that are associated with most radio discussions is not healthy for the growth of Ghana’s democracy. He said, discussions in the Media should rather be centered on how Ghana could be developed by all, and not to insult and peddle falsehood about political figures.
He, therefore, called on all Media commentators to ensure sanity in their discussions to help develop Ghana’s democracy. Dr Kwabena Adjei, Chairman of the ruling NDC said the agenda for the Senchi meeting was intended to develop ideas and programmes by the parties that could help consolidate Ghana’s democracy.
He said it is imperative that all political parties including the citizens, come on board to help contribute to the development of the country as it is a shared responsibility.
Madam Samia Nkrumah, Chairperson of CPP said, democracy must deliver to the people and it is imperative that distractions are avoided to help deliver basic needs of the people. Mr Paul Afoko, Chairman of NPP who was attending the meeting for the first time, commended the IEA for the programme which he said would help establish good relationships.
He said, the retreat by the Chairpersons is an indication that the various parties are not at war with each other. He called for constructive criticisms from the opposition parties instead of destructive ones, saying that if there is a change of government the party forming the government would also need a support from the losing one.
Dr Michael Ofori-Mensah, Senior Research Fellow at IEA said the GPPP has made significant achievements in its 11 years of existence. He said some of its achievements include the provision of technical support and capacity building of party executives from the national to the constituency level.
Others are policy intervention such as the recommendation to review the 1992 constitution, as well as inter-party dialogue.
Dr Ransford Gyampo, a Research Fellow at IEA said the objective of the three-day retreat was to revive the dialogue and outstanding co-operation between national chairpersons and political parties, review the state of democracy and governance, and examine the role and areas where the caucus of party Chairpersons could bring their influence to further consolidate Ghana’s democracy.
