ENOUGH WITH WAR DRUMS
“What difference does it make to the dead, the
orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name
of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty or democracy?”
Mahatma Ghandi
Continuous
vendetta whether openly or secretly would never heal the political bitterness
that has shown its ugly head among the two political divides in this country.
Over
and over again we have heard politicians making one promise or the other about
their desire to eschew political vendetta when voted into power or in other
cases we have seen politicians come to power and have vigorously pursued the
agenda of political vendetta.
In
any of the two instances above, they threw dust in the eyes of the people as
though the confluence of the two does not lead to the same thing: Bitterness.
Koo
let me inform you about the willy-nilly of the people you call your kin and
kith. Who have with all scintilla of doubt caused you more pain than joy, their
bickering, back biting and above all beating of war drum.
I
have with great interest kept my watch over their affairs within the last few
years and there is no denying the fact that both divide that is the elephant
and the umbrella can not boast with chest high that the interest of this
beloved country lay above theirs.
Anytime
they have the opportunity to let your kinsmen know what new they seek power to
implement, they throw it to the dogs, rather; they would spew insults and
agitations on each other.
My
worry is not about the largesse they would amass for themselves or perhaps had
amassed for themselves but what would become of Nkrumah’s Ghana if war were to break out
today.
Koo
the sweetness of a fruit is in the eating.
That
is to say, our brothers and sisters who have experienced war before on the
continent tell me that it was not a pleasant endeavor.
Speak
to anybody from Liberia or Sierra Leone or
even recently chaos torn cote devoir and you would always be told they wished
it had never happened.
So
as I stated earlier if politicians or politricians as many Ghanaians wish to call
them this days decide to empty the tax payers money into their individual
accounts the law must be allow to take its cause.
But
again my problem is with war. War is one human occurrence that is easy to start
but in my opinion very difficult to end. One man to me can easily start war but
the question is can one man easily create peace?
There
are a lot of things that unite us as a country than divide us. Talk of our
divergent cultures like Homewo, Hogbetsotso, Akwasidae, etc that attract a lot
of foreigners coming to just watch us entertain and make merry within
ourselves.
Our
natural resources: cocoa, timber, gold, salt, and now oil would all depend on
each one of us to push the nation forward. So you see the north have some
natural resources to boast about like wise the south, hence the adage ‘unity is
strength’ still hold.
Koo
the moment we begin to beat war drums and chant songs that lead to increasing
tension and agitation then we are shooting ourselves in the foot.
The
damaging effect of this phenomenal on our country is not only in direct reference
to our political and democratic system but has a serious implication on our
economy as well.
People
would lose their jobs, investors would hesitate in coming to invest, foreign
aid could seize, remittances from abroad might not come at all and a lot more
could happen to the economy.
Come
to think of it koo, our institutions are still grappling with strengthening
themselves and operating free from political influence as a result they are
punched at any given opportune time with carrying their pay masters
instructions even when it is obvious they are genuinely executing their
constitutional mandate.
Political
commitment towards strengthening these institutions is paramount yet it is not
a priority of political office holders.
As
the elections are fast approaching, Koo it is my prayer that every stakeholder
in this country including you would live above reproach so as to preserve the
long held accolade of a peaceful republic within the sub region.
Nathaniel
Mensah.
