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Encouragement of ethnic sentiments
endangers national security - Security Analyst
Accra, March 14, GNA - Encouragement of ethnic sentiments
within the national fabric poses a major security conundrum,
which must be resolved on a non-partisan platform, Mr Kofi
Bentum Quanston, a Security Analyst stated in Accra on
Wednesday.
"Politicisation of ethnic persuasions for the attainment of
political party gains at the expense of national cohesion is
the greatest danger Ghana faces as we embark on the journey
for the next 50 years," Mr Quanston who was contributing to
think-tank discussion on: "Ghana @50: Tribe or Nation?,
said.
The discussion dubbed: "Ghana Speaks," was organised by
Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG) in collaboration
with Multi-Media Broadcasting.
He said appointment to political office based on ethnic
leaning under the fourth republic is a bane to the
democratic development of the nation as the replicating
situation was “like a time bomb ready to detonate in our
face.”
He urged politicians to stop using political power as a
means to rewarding family members, close associates, tribal
groupings and other class groups.
Speaking on the theme; "Ghana @50: Tribe or Nation?
Professor Kwame Ninsin, IDEG Scholar in Residence described
the current explosion of tribal sentiments as an expression
of how the ordinary people were searching for alternative
meaning to get more in life.
He noted that the elite, especially politicians, on the
other hand, were exploiting the return to tribal political
groupings to win political power and serve mainly their
personal purposes.
To stem the crises and rebuild national solidarity, Prof
Ninsin who was the former Head of the Political Science
Department of the University of Ghana suggested the
strengthening of the state through strategic class alliance
to mobilise domestic and international resource to meet the
welfare needs of the people.
He also suggested the pursuit of a dynamic development
strategy on the principles of true democracy, stressing, "in
this globalized era, the developmental state will achieve
meaningful results only within the framework of an
integrated political and economic unit."
Prof Ninsin explained that after the attainment of political
independence in 1957, the Government of Convention People's
Party (CPP) attempted to use state power to consolidate the
new sense of national identity as well as sovereignty
through the development of policies aimed at giving
Ghanaians access to basic welfare services.
The Government also adopted strategies that projected the
status of the Ghanaian and the new nation-state, which was
aborted by the 1966 coup d'etat.
He said the military regime introduced policies that reduced
the power, capacity and size of the state and its
involvement in the economy and society, which plunged the
national economy into deeper crisis.
In those circumstances of crisis, the state gradually
abandoned its responsibility to provide for the welfare of
the people; and citizens lost access to a wide range of
citizenship rights.
Dr Emmanuel Akwatey, Executive Director of IDEG explained
that the lecture was aimed at putting the current state of
Ghana and its challenges into perspective for greater public
understanding and involvement.
It would also offer the public an opportunity to frankly
debate the public policy issues and contribute to their
effective resolution.
Politicians, journalists, civil society activists, Members
of Parliament, traditional rulers and a cross section of
society attended the Programme.
GNA
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