Building Ghana… …with the Nation First Approach.

With the universal acceptance of Multi-Party Democracy and the rule law as the most accepted way of building and developing a nation and meeting the global demands and challenges of our time, it is important for us as a nation to let national interest in certain override the political divide.

In this article, I would try to point out certain area where in my estimated; we need to arrive at a national consensus and treat always with nationalistic approach and not rest on the whims and caprices of the government of the day nor the government in opposition.

Where government is seen to defend and the opposition attack indiscriminatingly, there is always difficulty arriving at a nationalistic conclusion to satisfy all manner of persons not withstanding their political affliction. As a country, do we have areas where our line of thinking is nationalistic and free from partisan line of thinking? Do we have areas where NDC and NPP are obliged to toe the same line on or think along the same line on? In view of this, I have identified the following priority areas of our development as key areas that can be placed above every party’s quest for political fortunes point of convergence in putting national interest first. Education: The foundation on which every country can develop in this Science and Technology driven world is based on quality education.

The current decline in the quality of our education is an attestation to this point and the earlier we develop a nationalistic approach to improve on our education system, the better it would be for the future of this great nation. The fact that for the very first time in the history of this country and possibly the entire African continent student of deferent level (from 3 to 4) undertook the same examination and same set of question gives credence to how indiscriminate politicization can lead a nation into radical retrogression in development.

The long term solution is to develop an educational system that is bipartisan in nature and accepted by all.

Electoral Process: lack of trust in the process of electing person into political positions, spells doom for the stability of every nation that has embraced democracy. The very moment an electoral process gives room for ‘defeated person or groups’ to question the credibility of results on reasonable grounds; even if the claims are not strong enough to alter the final out of the said election, it still deprives the winner a united country which is extremely crucial in development. Though since 1992 Ghana has made conscious effort to improve the electoral process to ensure that there is less election disputes, the current court case on the 2012 poles underscore the fact that we need to develop an electoral system with less loop hole for even fairly defeated individuals or groups to take advantage of to question the credibility of the very outcome of the election.

The onus also rest on the Electoral Commission to strictly adhere to the generally accepted procedure for conducting elections and refrain last minute adjustments that are someway somehow not in line with the rules governing our elections.

The continual dispute of our election results is danger to our democracy. Justice System: The fact that this country was built on the tenet of freedom and Justice confirms the essence of justice in the development of this country. The highest court of the land has a point to prove in the current electoral dispute. As much as I am confident that my party won this election legitimately, I want the court to pass a verdict that perfectly in line with the verdict of the people on the evidence on the ground.

The rule of law must at all times be seen to be the fulcrum around which the law is applied

Foreign Policy: The world is said to be global villages where the joy of one country has adverse effect on the other. What then is our policy regarding dealing with other nations in times joy and trouble? Should we sit here debating on what to do when the world is waiting on us to act like the Ivory Coast situation?

Where the opposition went public against our government approach telling the world it was a betrayal.

If we had a nationally accepted foreign policy that say don’t talk and be taking sides but wait and allow collective voices of the various Inter Nations grouping to lead the way, I doubt the ‘di wo fie asem’ approach would have been an issue. We need a common and nationalistic approach in dealing with the world, what is our foreign policy?

Without a common voice in certain sector, we are forever going to talk more than we can achieve.

Abuga Pele

MP, Chiana Paga Constituency