Enough with War Drums

“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty or democracy?”

Mahatma Ghandi

Continuous vendetta whether openly or secretly would never heal the political bitterness that has shown its ugly head among the two political divides in this country.

Over and over again we have heard politicians making one promise or the other about their desire to eschew political vendetta when voted into power or in other cases we have seen politicians come to power and have vigorously pursued the agenda of political vendetta.

In any of the two instances above, they threw dust in the eyes of the people as though the confluence of the two does not lead to the same thing: Bitterness.

Koo let me inform you about the willy-nilly of the people you call your kin and kith. Who have with all scintilla of doubt caused you more pain than joy, their bickering, back biting and above all beating of war drum.

I have with great interest kept my watch over their affairs within the last few years and there is no denying the fact that both divide that is the elephant and the umbrella can not boast with chest high that the interest of this beloved country lay above theirs.

Anytime they have the opportunity to let your kinsmen know what new they seek power to implement, they throw it to the dogs, rather; they would spew insults and agitations on each other.

My worry is not about the largesse they would amass for themselves or perhaps had amassed for themselves but what would become of Nkrumah’s Ghana if war were to break out today.

Koo the sweetness of a fruit is in the eating.

That is to say, our brothers and sisters who have experienced war before on the continent tell me that it was not a pleasant endeavor.

Speak to anybody from Liberia or Sierra Leone or even recently chaos torn cote devoir and you would always be told they wished it had never happened.

So as I stated earlier if politicians or politricians as many Ghanaians wish to call them this days decide to empty the tax payers money into their individual accounts the law must be allow to take its cause.

But again my problem is with war. War is one human occurrence that is easy to start but in my opinion very difficult to end. One man to me can easily start war but the question is can one man easily create peace?

There are a lot of things that unite us as a country than divide us. Talk of our divergent cultures like Homewo, Hogbetsotso, Akwasidae, etc that attract a lot of foreigners coming to just watch us entertain and make merry within ourselves.

Our natural resources: cocoa, timber, gold, salt, and now oil would all depend on each one of us to push the nation forward. So you see the north have some natural resources to boast about like wise the south, hence the adage ‘unity is strength’ still hold.

Koo the moment we begin to beat war drums and chant songs that lead to increasing tension and agitation then we are shooting ourselves in the foot.

The damaging effect of this phenomenal on our country is not only in direct reference to our political and democratic system but has a serious implication on our economy as well.

People would lose their jobs, investors would hesitate in coming to invest, foreign aid could seize, remittances from abroad might not come at all and a lot more could happen to the economy.

Come to think of it koo, our institutions are still grappling with strengthening themselves and operating free from political influence as a result they are punched at any given opportune time with carrying their pay masters instructions even when it is obvious they are genuinely executing their constitutional mandate.

Political commitment towards strengthening these institutions is paramount yet it is not a priority of political office holders.

As the elections are fast approaching, Koo it is my prayer that every stakeholder in this country including you would live above reproach so as to preserve the long held accolade of a peaceful republic within the sub region.

Nathaniel Mensah.

niiequaye@yahoo.co.uk