Politics of Vilifications Should Give Way to Contest of Thoughts!

 

Feature By: Lawrence Yeboah Gyan

Can’t Politicians make productive arguments without trading insults?

Insults are socially unacceptable behavior that causes embarrassment and disgrace to the person it is directed at and that is why it is frowned upon in the civilized world.

But this unacceptable behaviour is exhibited every day by ordinary people and disturbingly by the political actors in the country.

In fact, in the past few years, politics in Ghana has become a discourse of personal attack, vilification, and insults.

Political opponents have, over the years, grown comfortable in trading abusive words and intemperate language especially on media platforms.

Justly so, this has provoked an extraordinary public concern about the recent surge of insults in the political landscape.

For many years, scores of concerned Ghanaians have expressed their detestation to insults traded by politicians campaigning for political power but the practice persists.

Various media platforms are filled every day with unsavoury comments by politicians against each other which are threatening to derail the achievements chalked so far.

Some of the concerns are from the media, civil society, academia, leaders of political parties, chiefs, and opinion leaders, among others.

They have, in the past, condemned and led advocacy campaigns to shame politicians who engage in this growing canker in the country's body politics.

Unfortunately, the practice persists with no end in sight. Although Ghana has enviable democratic credentials as compared to other countries in the West Africa sub-region, politics of insult continue to threaten this achievement.

It is for this reason that I applaud the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for counseling the New Patriotic Party communicators during the 2020 electioneering year to ensure that year's election campaign was devoid of gender, religious or ethnic sentiments.

In a virtual meeting with members of the communications team that year, President Akufo-Addo said tribal, religious and gender sentiments would not help the party's course.

Indeed, I share the President's position, particularly his admonition that the election campaign should be devoid of gender, religious or ethnic sentiments.

I pray that all politicians would embrace the admonition and engage in politics of ideas instead of insults and careless talks. It is incumbent on all stakeholders of our growing democracy to religiously ensure that we employ every weapon of decency and decorum to triumphantly fight the growing beast of insults in our politics.