In our Editorial on Wednesday, August 14, 2024, we urged politicians to tone down on their rhetorics and avoid aggravated tensions, ahead of the December 7 general elections.
That piece acknowledged that the major political parties – the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress – are confident of securing a decisive victory in the 2024 elections. However, we stated that the true measure of success will not be in winning, but in respecting the democratic process and the will of the people.
We intend to dedicate today’s Editorial to the same subject, considering that we have noticed mounting tensions on the political landscape, as parties prepare towards the elections. The presence of social media, for instance, is threatening further the calm atmosphere we are enjoying as a nation.
We deem it a duty to lend our platform to preach peace and advocate tolerance, while urging political actors to be decorous in their language, as Ghanaians prepare to go to the polls on December 7 to elect a P/resident and Members of Parliament.
The two most glamorous parties – NPP and NDC – in particular, have hit the ground running, in their bids to effectively sell their respective candidates and their messages to the electorates.
In view of this, the use of self-indulgent words and politically incorrect language by politicians is gradually gaining currency in the political space, in the run-up to the general elections.
For instance, the pronouncement by the politician, which we cited in our Wednesday’s piece was flagged by many political watchers as unhealthy for the sustenance of our democratic discourse.
As a matter of fact, though the comment we referenced was bad in taste, the kind of responses that it has generated are equally condemnable, as both have the propensity to incite party foot-soldiers from both sides of the political divide.
The Chronicle is extremely worried about these misguided commentaries by politicians and the kinds of unsavory tantrums they throw at each other during electioneering periods.
For instance, the Rwandan genocide has become a textbook case of the ways in which hate speech, especially the use of the spoken word on radio, can spark genocidal violence. The United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) found two radio journalists and a print journalist guilty of inciting genocide. Additionally, the Liberian civil war and the recent political upheavals in Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are all fallouts of electoral disagreements and provide valuable lessons that we must learn from.
Our politicians must, therefore, not take the relative peace we are enjoying in the country for granted and walk on dangerous path of war, with reckless and inciting comments that can set the nation ablaze.
In the view of The Chronicle, if politicians have the convincing power through the words of their mouths to get the electorate persuaded in their numbers to cast their votes for them, then it is equally wise for them to appreciate the fact that any inciting comments from them could equally have dire consequence.
We, therefore, call on the National Peace Council and all other relevant institutions to wake up to the call and crack the whip by calling out erring politicians publicly to engender a sense of awakening among the political class.
Ghana is the only country we have, therefore, all well-meaning Ghanaians must intensify the call on politicians to avoid making inflammatory comments which have the tendency of jeopardising our fledgling democracy.
Politicians must understand the fact that the ordinary Ghanaian voter cannot be taken for granted and must, therefore, think wisely when making public utterances before, during and after the elections.
The worry of The Chronicle stems from the fact that though we pride ourselves as a beacon of democracy in the sub-region, we don’t seem to place a higher premium on the sustenance of our political gains. The gods of this land will never forgive us if we fail to sustain our political gains.
