Opinions of Thursday, 4 February 2016

Columnist: Hardi, Ibrahim

NPP must show leadership against political violence

There is an urgent need for the New Patriotic Party(Npp) to show leadership in addressing the increasing levels of political violence among its members, otherwise we risk having political hooliganism entrenched in our country’s democratic institutions that will eventually be difficult to address.

It is hard to understand why political supporters threaten to harm or kill other citizens who have different political views and/or those who support different individuals or political candidates!.

There is a need for each and every Ghanaian to learn to engage in politics without physically assaulting others, or threatening others with violence. We need to remember that we are Ghanaians first in spite of the different political parties we belong to, the 74 different tribes to which we belong, the different languages we speak, or the different politicians we support within or outside our political parties.

We should not allow politics to create divisions amongst us to the extent of battering each other during campaigns and whenever we have differences in opinion over intra-party politics, inter-party politics, and/or national issues. We should avoid acting savagely toward one another. And we need to pray for one another, and for our beloved country.

After all, we are one and the same people – we are members of the Ghanaian family! “How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell in unity!” ? legendary Bob Nesta Marley.

We should always remember that the real enemies of our beloved country today are not any given individuals, political parties, non-governmental organizations, or foreign countries. Rather, they are poverty, hunger, ignorance, illiteracy, disease, widespread unemployment, crime, corruption, and moral decay.

Ibrahim Hardi,contact: 0208235615,Email;bigkolaaya@yahoo.com