One of the NDC campaign advertisments
The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has unleashed a campaign advertisement few days away from the general elections. It is an advertisement which shows how low the party can go in an effort to divide this country.
It is a ‘do-and-die’ grade advertisement as this level of desperation is referred to in street parlance which we find appropriate for the context under review.
That a party which claims to have the nation at heart can descend to such despicable depths is beyond our ken.
It is amazing that the advertisement, in spite of the danger it poses to our cohesion as a country, is yet to receive flak from relevant state institutions.
A campaign advertisement which seeks to set one ethnic group against another should not under any circumstances be allowed oxygen to survive, regardless of the level of desperation and frustration of those originating it.
The advertisement with a known actor playing a key role in it claims that a certain ethnic group would not be safe in Kumasi and its membership should avoid the Ashanti Regional capital at this time.
The predominant ethnic group in that part of the country would not welcome these persons, is its import. It is so morally obscene we can only paraphrase, as we have done, just so we don’t serve as a vessel for disseminating it beyond its original channels. We have observed that a television station in the country has agreed to be an accessory in the transmission of this social venom.
Whoever is behind the advertisement should be condemned with all the available harshness in view of the dangerous fallouts which it can visit on the country.
People who can descend to such depths of immorality and turn around to ask for the votes of Ghanaians should be shunned by all well-meaning citizens of this great country.
As a paid advertisement, those behind it definitely constitute the top echelon of the ruling party. These persons should bow their heads in shame for such inappropriate conduct just because of votes.
Will such persons govern the rubbles of the aftermath of a civil strife?
Our forebears worked indefatigably to build what today stands as a cohesive country, its multiplicity of ethnic groupings providing an impetus for growth and development.
Kumasi is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in West Africa, an attribute which has been in existence from colonial times and beyond. Posterity will deal ruthlessly with those who have foisted this contagion on us.
It is our belief that this seed of social disharmony would die at birth.
We have heard about the widespread condemnation of the spirit of the advertisement which for us is in order.
Let us all stand up and be counted among those who detest efforts at deepening the unwholesome schism in the country.
Considering what happened to a certain African country where the reckless manipulation of the ethnic card on radio led to an avoidable bloodletting, we in Ghana cannot countenance this nonsense on our airwaves.
We expect channels which accept such commercials to consider the larger picture which is Ghana and be wise.
The Ghana Peace Council, Christian Council of Ghana and the Office of the National Chief Imam, the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Armed Forces should deal with this emerging security challenge.
This is a major threat to security which the likes of the Chief of Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces Maj Gen Sampson Adeti and the IGP should look at.
Not doing anything about this danger is not an option no matter how the President would stand in their way.