It Is Reprehensible For Ghanaian Politicians To Use Religion As A Political Campaign Tool

It is such a pity that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the running mate of the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) presidential candidate, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo,  seems to have been infected by the virus of cynicism that is slowly destroying Ghanaian democracy.

The question is: How can such a decent and highly-intelligent gentleman - knowing fully well, the incendiary nature of religious extremism - insinuate that somehow Muslims are being discriminated against in the allocation of appointments at the presidency: in what after all is a secular state?

Religious extremism can turn even the mildest individuals, and the gentliest of souls, into callous and murderous terrorists. For that reason, we must not allow politicians in Ghana to use religion as a political tool, in their politicking. Ever.

Recently, two kind-hearted and very religious "born-again" Christians, who came to pray for me when they heard that I was quite ill, shocked me terribly, when they dismissed all those who haven't accepted Jesus Christ as their personal saviour, more or less as persona non grata, all bound for hell.

That kind of hardline religious fundamentalism is not the most helpful of positions for the religious in society to adopt in an age of global terrorism. The need for tolerance  in all aspects of our national life, has never been greater, at any given point in time in our history, thus far, than today.

Given the recent spate of terrorist attacks in West Africa, by Islamic extremists,  it is important for all Christians in Ghana, to see those with different faiths from theirs, as God's children too - who are to be embraced and welcomed as members of God's global interfaith community. It is called religious tolerance.

In a sense, are all the major religions of the world, not travelling on different paths to get to the same destination, metaphorically?

We must also not forget that Boko Haram started off as a radical religious movement to enforce Sharia law and demand the rejection of Western education, by a few Islamic fundamentalists in Nigeria's northern states.

Alas, initially, some saw them as pious but backward Islamists, who could not possibly pose a threat to Nigeria's stability.

Yet, today, despite the fact that it is still only a minority Islamist group, we are all bearing witness to the fact that Boko Haram has ended up becoming a Frankenstein monster - maiming and murdering tens of thousands in terrorist attacks on innocent people across Nigeria.

The ordinary people of Ghana do not want a similar tragedy to occur in their homeland Ghana too. Most ordinary people in Ghana want their country to remain one in which Muslims and Christians live in harmony with each other, across the nation.

That is why all the members of Ghana's political class must remember, at all material times, that Ghana is a secular state, whose constitution guarantees religious freedom for the entire citizenry.

There is no religious discrimination in Ghana. To claim otherwise is to be disingenuous and mischievous. One doubts very much, whether there are any Muslims anywhere in Ghana, who can truthfully say that they feel discriminated against, on account of their religion.

Above all, it is important to make the point that  religious faith has absolutely no bearing whatsoever, on appointments made to fill vacant public-sector positions, in our nation. We should keep it that way if we want our country to remain stable and peaceful.

It is important, for that reason, that the cynical Dr. Bawumias - yes, we must call a spade a spade, at such times - in our midst, do not resort to  using religion as a political tool to campaign for power, in this November's presidential and parliamentary elections. To do so would really be reprehensible, unpardonable and abominable, on their part. Period.