Bury religious, ethnic rivalries; President appeals to Ghanaians
President John Dramani Mahama has pledged to continue promoting an atmosphere of political rapprochement in order to diffuse any tension that may threaten the security of the country.
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Calling on all political leaders in the country to do same, the President said political power was worth nothing if it plunged the nation into partisan, ethnic or religious strife.
Addressing the 58th Independence Day Parade at the Black Star Square in Accra yesterday, President Mahama stated that our different political affiliations should not prevent us from working together to solve national challenges.
The celebration had the theme; “Achieving Transformation Through National Unity.”
Ethnic and religious tolerance
Touching on the simmering religious and ethnic tensions, the President said the participation of the various political actors in the recent demonstration indicated that both sides of the political divide had resolved not to allow ourselves to be divided by ethnic or religious sentiments.
“I am absolutely encouraged by the show of solidarity by the young politicians on the issue of national unity. Each and everyone of us in our culture and ethnic diversity contribute in a unique way to make our nation great and strong,” he emphasised.
For the President, the diversity of the citizenry must be a source of strength and not a weakness which must be harnessed and forged, since multi-party democracy was not about enmity and division but was rather a melting pot for the exchange of ideas.
He explained that party politics was disadvantageous if all it left in its wake was intractable differences and a lack of consensus on national issues.
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He added that the government was not averse to the use of inter-faith channels and dialogues to resolve any disagreement among the various faith groups.
In respect of a citizen of the nation who headed to the Supreme Court to seek an interpretation of the relevant clauses of the Constitution, President Mahama stated that the government would wait for the court’s mandate.
“I have asked the NCCE to join the National Peace Council in initiating a dialogue to foster an amicable understanding on how to operationalise Article 21 (1) of our Constitution,” President Mahama stressed and added that that was without prejudice to any conclusion the Supreme Court would arrive at in respect of the suit brought before it.
Milestone
The President noted that individuals and nations that had achieved greatness celebrated their successes and failures so they could build on those successes and ensure that their failures were not repeated.
He advised Ghanaians to celebrate and enhance the successes,recognise and minimise the failures since “all of us have contributed to our collective history and will be the critical factor in our failure or success”.
“Notwithstanding any mistakes we may have made, Ghana is celebrated for its strong democracy, respect for freedom of expression, ethnic harmony and above all, religious tolerance,” President Mahama indicated.
According to him, one thing the whole world recognised and accepted about Ghana was it being an oasis of peace with a stable democracy, coupled with its religious and ethic tranquility which, he pointed out, was a beautiful asset that should not be compromised.
“We cannot sacrifice our Ghanaian character of ethnic and religious harmony on the altar of political bigotry,” he added.
The President congratulated the security personnel for their smart and impressive turnout, which he described as a display of people working together for a common objective.
Youth of Ghana
President Mahama asked the youth to use the occasion as a test to prove themselves worthy of inheriting “this great nation,” adding that “It is a test that we dare not fail”.
Failing, according to the President, would amount to a grave injustice to the memory of all those whose sweat, blood and toil helped construct the great nation handed down to us.
“Even as we acknowledge that more challenges remain to be resolved, they are no reason for us to slide into purposeless lamentation and self-pity. Rather, they must offer a pivot around which we galvanise ourselves into action,” President Mahama asserted.
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He indicated that the time had come for a collective push to quicken the pace of the march towards socio-economic transformation.