Ghana is not for only NDC and NPP - Antwi Danso

Director of Academic Affairs at the Ghana Armed Forces and Command Staff College, Dr. Vladimir Antwi Danso has underscored the need for the country to develop along non-partisan lines.

The international relations expert believes that all that we are doing today is about nation building an nothing else and nation building he explained demand of us to come together in achieving that purpose. Dr. Antwi Danso was delivering a public lecture at the launch of Ghana For Peace Project (GPP) in Accra where he indicated that, nation building, has to with processes and goals. One major challenge he identified affecting the country has to with the process.

According to him, even if political parties agree on the same goals, the processes in attaining the goals becomes different. Ghana he noted, has been turned into a two party state namely the NDC and NPP who always fought over the process of achieving their goals towards the development of this country.

''Normally we fight over two things. Incompatibility of goals and the processes towards the goals. These things we shall fight over, whether we like or not.'' There are rules and regulations towards addressing the process and the goals. But unfortunately in this country, both the goals and processes have all been completely missed. We haven't fixed the goals, we haven't fixed the processes.

The problem he maintained has affected the development of this country in the sense that, a party comes into power but fails to continue from where the former leader left off.

''Neither the goals nor processes have been fixed and that is a sad reflection of our nation building process. We have turned Ghana and politics into a zero sum game. When you have it, is all yours, do whatever you want. And if i get it, i will also come and take another button. And that is why we have no peace in this country'' In fixing the problem, the national development planning commission must be made non partisan. It must be full of technocrats who believes in where Ghana should go. Then when we have the blueprint for Ghana, every party comes to take its manifesto from the NDPC...So the NDPC says it wants to build 200 schools in 5 years; by the time you came, we have built 100, you put your manifesto whether you can build 10, 50 or more and tell us why and how.''

The outspoken lecturer and expert opined that political parties like the NDC and NPP are only making promises but have failed to tell Ghanaians how these promises could be achieved. Politicians he noted don't fight over their benefits but when it comes to what concerns citizens, they fight over it with citizens also following in that order.

''We have a dichotomization syndrome... The whole country have been turned into NDC and NPP. Don't mind all the other parties, my own CPP, there are a lot us who either belong to the NPP or the NDC. We have all been bought. That is what they are doing, they are poaching a lot. They are even forming more political parties so their parties will always stay stronger. That dichotomization syndrome is very wrong. And it permeate every fabric of our society. So we have NDC lawyers and we have NPP lawyers, we have NDC teachers and NPP teachers...Very soon we shall have NDC air, NPP air, NDC water, NPP water. Is that safe?''

Institutions in Ghana he said are only working in the interest of the ruling government.

''We only care about who rules and not how he rules. I'm warning you, we should care about how the person rules...Because there is no constitutionalism in this country. I've said this a million times and i will say it again. We have a beautiful constitution but it is not working. Whoever rules tries to interprets the constitution to himself.''

On his part, President of I Ghana, organizers of the lecture and frontiers of the Ghana Peace Project, Jerry John Paul Boateng said, the event will be replicated in all the regions. The main objective he said was to promote peace this election year.

He said, the election should be about ballots and not bullets. Ghana he added should be more united after the process towards our development.