'Do not discredit the image of the country'

Mr Aquinas Tawiah Quansah, Member of Parliament for Mfantseman, has urged Ghanaians to desist from activities that could bring the image of the country into disrepute.

“Let us do things, which can bring progress to the nation rather than things which can derail the forward march of the country,” he said.

Mr Quansah gave the advice in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Saltpond against the backdrop of current events concerning the spate of labour unrests and appealed to those involve to temper justice with mercy.

He appealed to Ghanaians to be circumspect with things they say or do about the country.

He said politics should be used as a tool for development but not for destruction and that the events in the country should not set the clock of progress backwards.

Mr Quansah said strikes only endangered a country’s economy because a good number of profitable working hours, which could bring revenue, were lost.

“Let us desist from creating bad image for the country, especially before foreigners. We must bear in mind that nobody will build the country for us except we Ghanaians.

“What does a Ghanaian gain by going to London to demonstrate about the situation in Ghana,” Mr Quansah asked, adding: “Was it not because of economic hardships they went to Britain to seek greener pastures?”

He advised Ghanaians not to pretend as if hardship in Ghana started with President John Mahama’s presidency.

“Would Ghanaians in Britain and elsewhere be sincere to admit that the living conditions in the country they are residing in currently were not the same as they used to be when they first went there? Let us face facts, Ghana under the current hardship is better than some countries whose citizens are content with the situation in their countries,” the MP said.

Mr Quansah urged Ghanaians to accept the current conditions and cooperate with the government to improve them.

“Pouring into the streets to demonstrate or going on strikes would not do the country and its citizens any good, but rather scares away anyone who intends to invest in the country to improve the lot of the people,” he stated.