Has The Time Not Come For The Yaw Osafo-Marfos And Dr. Richard Amoako Baahs To Discard Their Antediluvian Worldviews?

A brilliant and multi-talented young friend, wondered aloud to me, a few days ago, why, in 21st century Africa, highly-intelligent individuals, such as the Yaw Osafo-Marfos and Dr. Richard Amoako Baahs, give one the distinct impression that they still hark back to the order of things, in our pre-colonial tribal past?

Surely, highly-intelligent individuals like that, ought to understand that it is a long-gone era, which  can never be brought back again? Hmm, Ghana - eyeasem o.

Whether a Ghanaian citizen is of Brong heritage, Dagomba heritage, Asante heritage, Ewe heritage, Ga Dangbe heritage or Fanti heritage, ought not to matter one jot, in the scheme of things, in the Republic of Ghana in the year 2016, should it?

Yes, we must be proud of the cultural heritage of whichever part of Ghana we happen to hail from - if one sets great store by such things because they help define who one is, as an individual, that is.

However, there is a world of difference between celebrating one's cultural traditions, and being secretly prejudiced against others, simply because an accident of birth over which they had no control, placed them in a certain part of Ghana, as their place of origin.

When President Kufuor was in power, this blog's position, was that it didn't matter in the slightest, whether all the president's appointees were Akans - if they were the best-qualified Ghanaians he felt comfortable working with to fulfill his mandate.

Is there not incontrovertible scientific evidence that proves that basically, Ghanaians across the country, more or less share virtually the same DNA? Does that not mean, in other words, that we are essentially the same people?

Let those in our homeland Ghana, who are still wrapped up in the dark and backward time-warp that is tribalism, understand clearly, that it is precisely that kind of narrow-mindedness that led to the pogrom in Darfur, and the genocide in Rwanda.

We definitely don't need such backward  thinking in Ghana - and it can never be justified under any circumstances. Not in 21st century Africa - in which no tribe is inferior or superior to another.

The question the Dr. Richard Amoako Baahs must ponder over is: If today, many Ghanaian citizens of northern heritage, are in prominent positions in the public sector, what does it matter - as long as they are the best qualified Ghanaians that President Mahama is comfortable working with to fulfill his mandate?

And if Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo wins the November presidential election, and decides to appoint only Ghanaian citizens of  Akyem heritage, to fill the most important positions in his government, because he feels comfortable working with them to fulfill his mandate, why should anyone begrudge him that?

Which particular part of Ghana a public-sector appointee hails from is totally irrelevant in our nation of diverse-ethnicity - as long as he or she is qualified for that position and has the confidence of the president who appoints them to a particular post in the public sector.

The Yaw Osafo-Marfos must also understand clearly that the natural resources that our homeland Ghana is endowed with, belong to all Ghanaians, not just to the indigenes of the areas where they are found.

Above all, the Dr. Richard Amoako Baahs and Yaw Osafo-Marfos must understand that there is such a thing as tyranny of the majority. That too is an affront to humankind and an abuse of the rights of others. It is time they discarded their antediluvian worldviews.