Ghanaian elite lauded for dousing ethnic flames
A social and political scientist, Dr Manuel Vogt, has said as long as Ghanaian leaders see a common interest across ethnic groups, it is unlikely to see large-scale violence in Ghana.
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Commending Ghana’s political elite for not inflaming passions when the ethnic card is played by their followers, he said the very fact that Ghana had had less exclusion along ethnic lines than other countries in the West Africa sub-region was a positive indication of the Ghanaian political culture (elite behaviour) since independence.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic after a roundtable organised by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) on the topic “Ethnic Power Relations and Conflict: Lessons from around the World”, he noted that anytime followers of political parties tried to play the ethnic card in political discourse, it was the elite who prevented it from escalating into violence.
Connections
Dr Vogt of the Centre for Comparative and International Studies, ETH Zurich, stated, “It really seems that the Ghanaian elite is characterised by the trans-ethnic connections so that people may not be friends with each other, but they seek common interest and I think these common interests among leaders from different ethnic groups are crucial despite coups d’état.
As long as elites see common interests across ethnic groups, I think exclusion is less likely and conflict is less likely.
“The Ghanaian elite, with its cross-ethnic alliances has been able to manage political conflicts very well, making sure that political conflicts do not lead to ethnic confrontations, at least not violent ones. So I would say that Ghana has a very low conflict risk if we compare with other sub-Saharan African countries; as low as Zambia, Gabon – these are countries that are very stable,” he stated.
Reduction in ethnic exclusion
He indicated that ethnic exclusion or discrimination had reduced globally since the end of the Second World War except in the Middle East and in Northern Africa, and added that in sub-Saharan Africa, it had reduced drastically in the last 20 years unlike what pertained in Europe where minorities were excluded.
Dr Vogt attributed the drastic reduction in exclusion in sub-Saharan Africa to the adoption of democracy, which he said had resulted in the inclusion of more ethnic groups in governance.
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However, while harping on the positive effect of democracy on the sub-region, which he said was a necessary tool to manage conflicts in multi-ethnic societies, he noted that democracy had its own challenges.
He listed some of the challenges as power struggle along ethnic lines and increases in the risk of civil conflict, adding that elite coalitions were important to promote peace.
Ethnicity melting point
The Deputy Director and Head of Research and Programmes, CDD, Dr Franklin Oduro, said surveys conducted by CDD had indicated that Ghana had reached ethnic melting point, since more people saw themselves as Ghanaians more than from the perspective of the tribes they belonged to.
He, however, cautioned, “the fact that Ghana has escaped ethnic conflict does not mean that we are safe.”
Dr Oduro also stated that strengthening institutions was more important than relying on the benevolence of the elite who had been commended by Dr Vogt.
In his remarks, the chairman for the discussion, Ambassador Francis Tsegah, a Senior Fellow of CDD, however, lauded the elite in Ghana, saying they had played a more positive role in Ghana by promoting national cohesion rather than disintegration, which had sustained the country.
He reiterated the call for caution, saying, “Ghana should not take the peace it is enjoying for granted.”
Other participants cited the roles played by religious and traditional leaders; the docile nature of Ghanaians, the shifting of allegiance between political parties by ethnic groupings and the knowledge of the harm enthnocentrism had done in other countries in the sub-region as factors that had prevented conflicts in the country.