The role of religious leaders in fostering societal peace and harmony cannot be overemphasized. Ghanaian religious leaders are not grandstanders when it comes to the social and economic plight of the ordinary Ghanaian.
Needless to say, their commitment to the welfare of the less fortunate in our society is total and unquestionable. By and large, Ghanaians have come to rely on their religious leaders to provide counseling, solace and understanding when times are difficult and solutions hard to come by.
Be that as it may, when religious leaders speak on important national issues, everybody, including our political leadership, listens with rapt attention.
The Catholic Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, the Reverend Charles Palmer Buckle used the Easter celebrations to lash out at the bitter relations between the two major political parties, the NPP and the NDC.
He essentially accused them of not having the interest of Ghana at heart which he said did not inspire confidence among Ghanaians and was dragging the nation down a slippery and dangerous slope.
I could not agree more with the Archbishop’s observations about the state of affairs in the country. In fact, the two political behemoths have turned politics into a bloodsport.
Criticism is rife and, in most instances, informed by a desire to score political points and cooperation for the public good is very scarce.
The two parties cannot seem to agree on anything. Each wants to outdo the other. The NPP wants the world to know that it is in charge, and the NDC is determined to forestall any policy move by the NPP.
In short, they are impulsive and quick to jump on an opening in order to take a shot at their opponent. The ongoing consternation about the US-Ghana military cooperation is a clear case in point.
While the government staunchly says with a straight face that it is a good deal for Ghana, the opposition NDC claims vehemently that it is a sellout and a disservice to the country.
Overall, the prevailing political atmosphere is one of intense incivility, bitterness and vindictiveness, all of which, as the archbishop aptly puts it, is extremely dangerous to our democracy. Accra, in short, is chaos city.
At the end of the day, the victims of the political paralysis in Accra are Ghanaians who are still mired in grinding poverty, cannot adequately clothe and feed their families and cannot find work when they desperately need it.
In view of this, is it any wonder that Ghanaians see their political representatives as a bunch of do nothings? Will our tone deaf politicians listen to the archbishop’s admonition? I hope they will.
Their reputation is in ruins and to salvage their good names and restore some measure of public respectability, the two political parties must narrow their differences and be guided by the spirit of cooperation.
Ghanaians are watching them with eagle eyes and when the political situation becomes untenable, they surely will take the appropriate steps to rectify it by throwing disagreeable politicians out of office. It is as simple as that. The incessant political bickering must come to a complete stop.
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