“If you want to know all the debtors of your
great grand-parents, join the political landscape”.
These two expressions are a reflection of the
nature and manner in which politics is being practised in Ghana and other parts
of the continent. People who have toiled so much in public service or private
life are tainted once they get into mainstream politics.
Ordinarily, persons we may not even have the
opportunity of serving at their feet are insulted, abused verbally just because
they have accepted a call to serve their country in politics.
“Political objectivity” seems not to exist in
our modern-day politics. Individuals, religious leaders, Civil Society Organizations, traditional leaders and academics hardly express their opinions
on very pertinent and crucial issues of national interest. This is to avoid
the political tag, insults and abuse that are often unleashed on them by
political actors when a dissenting view is expressed.
If our traditional rulers, religious leaders
and other well-meaning Ghanaians cannot step in to calm political tension, then
our country is gradually entering into an abyss. As a relatively younger person, I have always
known that, when issues get out of hand, we rely on the “elderly” to calm
tension. Sadly, majority of our “elders”,
have been silent on national
issues in order to protect their “dignity”. The few ones who speak have either
endorsed one political party or the other, shown extreme bias and losing their
credibility day by day. Let me hasten to add that, there still exist a few of
these statesmen who have distinguished themselves above partisan politics and demonstrated
national interest in all their discourse.
There is nothing more insulting and offensive
when people suggest by virtue of your academic qualification, professional
competence, religious or ethnic inclination, you should and cannot ascribe to a
certain class of political ideology of your choice.
One Wednesday morning as a graduate student in a policy class just before our professor stepped in, the class was engaged in a discussion on a crucial national issue in Ghana which appeared to be a norm with my mates every day. After my submissions, two of my “very good friends” and mates jovially and rhetorically asked me, ‘How can a fine gentleman like you belong or associate with this political ideology”? How on earth will a graduate student be associated with this party?” Even though, I took it lightly, but that shows the extent to which our politics is being practiced. I said to myself later that evening that “so fine gentlemen and graduate students cannot associate themselves with a political ideology of their choice to share ideas on nation building again?
This trend undoubtedly is a recipe for underdevelopment.
This trend has kept many level-headed persons out of the political landscape. How
do we expect to develop when we keep on pushing people away from politics with
our “loud-mouth”? How do we expect to develop when “fine brains” with proven record
of competence and integrity are kicked away from public policy formulation and implementation
due to the verbal abuse that have characterized our politics? How can we
progress when we cannot accept constructive criticism or alternate ideas but “push
them into the drain”?
The most worrying aspect of the insults in
politics is the abuse women and ladies suffer when they accept to serve their
nation in government. Some women are
branded as “prostitutes” or “sex-slaves” after earning a position in
government. Sadly, once a lady is appointed to serve, sexual connections are
mysteriously made with the appointing authority or a close ally of the
appointing authority. Anytime I hear of such, my heart bleeds for my dear
country Ghana…
In my relatively younger life, I have been politically
conscious and mindful of national issues for at least the past decade. I have
spent time watching documentaries and reading about earlier political actors,
their vision and dream for Africa. Notable among them are Dr. Kwame Nkrumah,
Prof. K. A. Busia, Thomas Sankara, Haile Selassie, and Julius Nyerere. I know
they may be extremely disappointed with us with the impunity and moral
decadence which has engulfed a rather “sacred and noble” duty due to insults
and political thuggery. Probably, they should have aborted the idea of
political independence and allowed us to enjoy our “political slavery” with
moral uprightness instead of political independence full of bitterness, insults
and total disregard for each other as we are experiencing.
“We shouldn’t get to
the level where we think that to be a politician you must insult people. I
don’t think so. When the fabrics of society get weak, none of the policies will
help you. Our parents didn’t raise us to go insulting people”- These beautiful
words of Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang sets a tone for a good discussion on
the impunity and moral decadence that has engulfed ‘modern day politics” in
Ghana and the world and the need to take a rather quick turn from politics of insults
and embrace politics of ideas.
As a student of Public Administration
and Development Policy and Planning, I have encountered earlier scholars in
politics and public policies in my studies and profession such as Wilson
Woodrow, Frank Goodnow, Thomas Dye, and James Anderson among others.
One interesting model by these
scholars in Politics and Public policy is the “Politics- Administration Dichotomy model. Three school of thoughts
have expressed varied opinions on this model. With the first school of thought
advocating for a strict separation between politics and administration. Woodrow
in his book “The Study of Administration” in 1887 argued that, politicians
should solely focus on policy formulation whiles its implementation should be solely
handled by public administrators (bureaucrats and technocrats). In affirming
his argument, he suggested that “administrative questions are not political questions,
public administration must be removed from the hurry and strife of politics”. The
second school of thought also argued that, bureaucrats or technocrats should be
engaged in policy formulation due to their technical competence together with politicians
whiles the implementation of policies should be handled by only the technocrats
without any political interference. The third school of thought often referred
to as the complementarity model argues that, both politicians and public
administrators should join forces in the formulation and implementation of public
policies.
For me, this should be the way
to go in politics if we want to develop. We should be engaging in academic, thought
provoking and needful arguments such as the politics –administration dichotomy
that will shape policy formulation and implementation instead of celebrating
political actors with the “sharpest tongue and loudest mouth”.
Instead of spending time on
social media, radio and television denigrating our politics with insults, we
should spend time thinking, researching and promoting ideas and models that
will shape our political discourse just as what earlier scholars like Frank
Goodnow and Wilson Woodrow did.
As we prepare ourselves for
elections, let us be civilized in our discourse, let us engage in politics
of ideas and not insults. Let us respect the political opinions of others. I pray
for a peaceful election and campaign devoid of insults and political thuggery. God
bless our homeland and make our nation great and strong.
Kwame
Ohene-Ntow
YALI
Dream,
A
better Ghana,
A brighter Africa.
The writer holds a Master’s
degree in Development Policy and Planning from KNUST, a bachelor’s degree in
Public Administration from the University of Ghana Business School and an alumnus of the Young African Leadership Initiative.
Email: Vincentntow12@gmail.com
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