THE FUSION OF INTOLERANCE WITH INDISCIPLINE; THE PUTRID MIX CALLED GHANA A week can be a long time in any nation but in Ghana it’s often even longer. Often there is more than one issue going on affecting the average person that by the time we approach midweek, we are not able to have a detailed discussion on matters of national importance. I have for a while wondered why we churn out so many stories or non-stories for that matter. What is even more intriguing is the speed with which these stories appear and promptly disappear. In most cases one of two things are in the mix intolerance and indiscipline. Can these two worlds be the best descriptor of our characteristic as a people? According to Kofi Annan, “Ignorance and prejudice are the handmaidens of propaganda. Our mission, therefore, is to confront ignorance with knowledge, bigotry with tolerance, and isolation with the outstretched hand of generosity.” It is strange that the opposite is what seems to happen in his native Ghana. I will try and explore why this poisonous fusion of intolerance and indiscipline frequently rears its head. My worries started when the GMO debate was triggered, passions were high and so were opinions. That to me was the perfect mix for a national debate to get what is best for the country and to identify the pitfalls or otherwise of the bill before parliament. My hopes were quickly dashed as the airwaves and social media were filled with accusations and counter accusations. Name calling became the order of the day and in no time the all too familiar political meanings and backhandedness had been thrown into the fray. Both sides of the arguments with perfectly valid concerns have not till date held a decent debate and ultimately in my view the nation has suffered and the bill may be handicapped. A classic case of intolerance and lack of mutual respect. For a while there has been a raging debate as to the benefits or otherwise of Ghana as part of ECOWAS signing the EPA. Again passions are at a crescendo. The matter needs critical analysis as to why as a country and sub region the agreement seems to put as at a competitive disadvantage. A national stakeholder’s debate was held this week but as usual intolerance reared its head. There was hue and cry as to whether or not the European Union’s representative in Ghana was qualified to speak, there have been arguments and counter argument but to me the level of intolerance that was demonstrated by a section of the participants and the near humiliation that was vested on the EU representative was uncalled for. The NPP a party that has historically claimed the title of being the most democratic had some of its sympathizers and members showed some levels of intolerance over the past week best fitted for the back streets of North Korea, with mudslinging, name calling, accusations, counter accusations and rebuttals. The sum total of which only went a long way to poison the already tensed political atmosphere within the party. The matter was made even worse by the fact that anyone who dared to criticize the putrid situation was descended upon by a ton of bricks by sympathizers of the party, in their view all ways normal. If this is not intolerance I wonder what intolerance is. While the NPP were at it some acolytes of the NDC descended into the gutter and served notice that they were at the appropriate time going to use the ammunition their political opponents had supplied. Rather than show maturity and help break this cycle of intolerance, these NDC functionaries were only happy to postpone, hoping to resurrect the intolerance at a later date. We are often made to believe that this toxic mix of intolerance is an integral part of any democratic political discourse but is this really true? According to Gandhi, Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit. If this statement is true then obviously what we are made to believe is untenable. The above examples of intolerance are only the tip of the iceberg; a trip through Ghana gives a clear impression of how intolerant we are. As if this is not enough we attempt to register our intolerant displeasure with a level of indiscipline sometimes even the hardened revolutionary and anarchist can dream of. The way and actions of land guards typifies this indiscipline and so does the reckless use of language in our political discourse. In our society an attempt to correct an obvious wrong is met with expletives’ often not printable by the civilized writer but happily spoken. Can we build consensus with this sort of fouled atmosphere? Sometimes I wonder if personal agendas and self-glorification are more important than the bigger national interest. Often it is clear that our intolerance and indiscipline is aimed at being obstructive with the hope of gaining a personal advantage rather than reaching out, building consensus and putting the national interest first. Reading contributions in print and social media always gives the impression that for every situation we find ourselves in, we know the problem, have many options and potential answer, yet are never able to crack the nut; thanks to our inability to tolerate our diversity and consolidate best practice and ideas. The result is that implementation is one sided and froth with half-baked ideas. Those whose ideas are excluded wait patiently for failure only to recite the famous phrase “I told you so” forgetting that the failure is another piece of the national cake gone down the drain through the selfish behavior of all. What we must all be mindful of is that; this world of ours, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect. To achieve this we must learn to tolerate each other no matter the emotional involvement. Until we try to build this sort of world we will continue to divide and rule and continually achieve very little, the golden dream of development will be but a mirage. Like Gandhi said “Once one assumes an attitude of intolerance, there is no knowing where it will take one. Intolerance, someone has said, is violence to the intellect and hatred is violence to the heart”. The current fusion of both in most aspects of our lives can be best described as a recipe for disaster. We are one nation, with one people and one destiny, we must always remember we succeed together and so do we fail together. The notion that national failure rests with a particular political party, interest group, tribe or religious creed is just bluntly bunkers. We need to grow up and learn to co-exist in all aspects of our lives. Happy Easter.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Apr 2014 12:13:01 +0000
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