Ghana's Political Parties Must Expel Violent Members

Author's note: This piece was written on 7/7/2013. It is being posted today, because I was unable to do so on the day. Please read on:


It is alarming that violence-prone individuals who go into politics in Ghana, can rise to positions of influence,  in the country's political parties.


One  often wonders,   whether  it ever strikes   the short-sighted and verbally-aggressive amongst our nation's political class - such as the Stephen Atugubis and the Anthony Karbos -   that what ordinary people across  Ghana crave above all else, is that their nation's educated urban elites  will have the wisdom,  to enable Ghana avoid the terrible fate that befell sister African nations,  in which violence and chaos  turned the lives of ordinary people completely upside down.


It is in light of the sentiments expressed above,  that one particularly hopes that journalists in Ghana,  will come to understand
that when our nation faces an existential threat, it is vital that they immediately stop serving the parochial interests of both the politicians  who wield power,  and the opposition politicians    who seek to replace those serving in  governments of the day.


Since we appear to be  faced with just such a moment in our history, has the  time not  come for those in  the Ghanaian media,  who are guilty of it,  to  put aside blinkered partisan politics, and start being proactive in supporting the ongoing work  amongst peace-loving individuals and organisations, to help keep Ghana peaceful and stable?


Perhaps the media  could make a start in that direction,  by  demanding  that the most influential politicians in Ghana (across the spectrum)  give an undertaking to ordinary people,  that  they will never allow the  tragedies that befell  Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast  to occur in Ghana.


Were such a terrible and avoidable man-made disaster  to occur here,  because political parties refused  to put the national interest ahead of their selfish concerns, there is no question that it would  set our nation back decades - and we might  probably never recover from the destruction of the  national economy that will  result from any widespread violence and chaos in Ghana.


And as sure as day follows night, countrywide poverty,  will  follow in the wake of such a meltdown of the Ghanaian economy.


To avoid such a fate,  surely, it is time that  all the political parties in Ghana acted to isolate those in their midst  with a violent disposition - including the verbally aggressive men and women, who on a daily basis,   are  engaged in the never-ending propaganda war  in Ghana's  print and electronic media?

To help keep Ghana peaceful and stable - and as a good governance measure to restore confidence  in them amongst ordinary Ghanaians -   political parties in Ghana must act quickly to expel the  violent amongst their  membership. A word to the wise...


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