Don’t support politics based on religion, ethnicity — Most Rev Prof Asante
The National Peace Council (NPC) has condemned what it refers to as the creeping introduction of ethnic and religious sentiments into the country’s body politic. According to the council, such utterances by politicians to whip up sentiments among the electorate to vote for them based on ethnic or religious affiliations were a recipe for disunity and chaos.
Advertisement
The Chairman of the council, the Most Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Asante, voiced out this concern in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday on the ramifications of such comments on peace before, during and after this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections.
His comments come in the wake of recent calls bordering on ethnic and religious divisions reportedly made by a former Minister of Transport, Mrs Dzifa Attivor, and Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the running mate to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Mrs Attivor reportedly told NDC members at a rally in the Volta Region that if they failed to ensure NDC’s victory in the election an NPP government would imprison NDC leaders from the region.
She was said to have cited the imprisonment of former government officials, Messrs Victor Selormey and Dan Abodakpi, as the basis for her assertion.
Dr Bawumia, on the other hand, is reported to have stated in the Sissala East District in the Upper West Region that there was no balance at the Flagstaff House because both the President and the Vice-President were Christians.
He, therefore, asked the people to vote for the NPP because as the party’s flag bearer was a Christian and he was a Muslim, religious balance would be brought to the Presidency.
Competence over affiliation
The Most Rev. Prof. Asante said politics based on religion and ethnicity “should not be encouraged at all” in the country.
Other Trending Stories
“Rather, we should unite people to vote for those whom they think have the capacity to govern. People should be put in positions in terms of what they can offer but not based on their ethnicity or religion,” he said.
He, therefore, urged Ghanaians to look out for people who had the knowledge to implement economic policies to address unemployment and other challenges facing the country.
Peaceful co-existence
The Most Rev. Prof. Asante observed that there was too much intolerance on the country’s political landscape, pointing out that the posture of some people that they did not want to see or hear anything good from the other side would not build a nation.
He, therefore, urged every Ghanaian to see himself or herself as a peacemaker by tolerating others, saying: “We must live and let others live.”
Youth and violence
He particularly asked the youth not to allow themselves to be used by selfish politicians to engage in violent confrontations before, during and after the elections.
He said the future of the country was in the hands of the youth, hence the need for them to avoid any actions that could plunge the country into chaos.
The Most Rev. Prof. Asante said the stakes were high in this year’s elections, considering that the elections followed the 2012 elections that ended at the Supreme Court, heightened suspicion against the Electoral Commission (EC) and the fact that the NPP flag bearer, Nana Akufo-Addo, was contesting for a third time.
He, therefore, urged the police to employ measures to prevent any trouble during the elections.
TUDEC’s collaboration
He said the NPC, in collaboration with the Ghana-Turkey Cooperation and Development Association (TUDEC), organised an international dialogue on peace and tolerance, which culminated in the launch of a book on peace and tolerance.
He lauded TUDEC for its efforts towards the promotion of inter-religious dialogue in the country.
He said the NPC would collaborate with TUDEC to organise more dialogue sessions with key stakeholders towards ensuring peace in this year’s elections.