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Opinions of Saturday, 8 August 2020

Columnist: Issifu sulemana

WASSCE saga: GES must show fairness in the application of disciplinary rules

File photo: Some students flouting directives play videoFile photo: Some students flouting directives

It's with great difficulty that, I have had to do this. I know many of my NPP folks won't be happy. I'm however obliged to do it because it's about the future of Ghana which we have collectively vested in the young lads under the peerless free senior high education program.

Someone drew my attention to this video. Though I have seen it before, my moral senses were overtaken by the seeming humour of the video. In this video, we find these young boys, pouring libation and chanting words. Apart from the showering of praises for the President Nana Akufo-Addo, which is of course, commendable, they went beyond the boundaries of allowable language expected per the sociocultural norms of our society, to curse, and to literally insult people who are deemed to be opponents of HE Nana Addo.

We cannot pretend not to know whom the opponents of Nana Addo are. Truth be told, these young boys, were insinuatingly lambasting former President Mahama and some elders of the NDC. That's the truth.

My problem is, is it allowed per our society, to under any circumstance, insult and denigrate elders? Or in this case, it was justified because politics was involved and the former President Mahama was the one at receiving end?

How can we synchronise the GES's mumness about this video and the one insulting the President, Nana Akufo-Addo? Why have we seen a drastic action (which I fully support) against the ones who insulted Nana Addo but haven't seen anything close to that, in the case of this video? Probably of those in this video had been punished, others would have taken a cue from it and not venture into the decadence we're witnessing now.

The GES must be equitable in the enforcement of disciplinary rules. I cannot come to terms with why those who showed gross disrespect towards elders of our country deemed to be opposition members, are/were left off the hook but in a similar situation, punish others because of whom they attacked. That is not a good lesson to teach our future leaders.

We must teach them to respect elders of our society, we must teach them to dissent or support with decency and decorum, we must teach them equitable application of rules. The normal bending of the rules in favour or against persons on the basis of political lines, cannot be bequeathed to the upcoming ones.

If we cannot stop political law enforcement in our generation, I beg of our leaders not to transfer this disease to the next generation and this is what I see happening with what GES has done!