NATIONAL HONOURS BLUES

IT is difficult to understand why the nomination of the presidential aspirant of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Professor J. E. A. Mills, for a national award should draw so much ire from some activists of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
From all indications, this award from the sitting President to an opponent of the candidate of his own party, the NPP, in the December 2008 elections is meant to open a new chapter in the country's body politic.
Activists of the two main parties in the country, the NPP and the NDC, have exhibited extreme partisanship on national issues to such an extent that a recognition for public service has divided our ranks as one people with one common destiny.
Even some leading members of the opposition NDC have rubbished the award as a gesture too late in the day and meant to score cheap political points, while some in the NPP have described the national award for Prof Mills as politically suicidal.
The NPP activists argue that the honour has the potential to give a head start to the candidate of the opposition NDC. Any good leader should recognise meritorious service and name the people who offer such service for public salute. That is exactly what President Kufuor has done in this instance. National honours should not be bestowed on people on account of their association or loyalty to the ruling party. It should be on merit.
The Daily Graphic believes that this honour should mark a turning point in the way we have done politics in the country over the last 16 years.
Politicians who are criss-crossing the country now seeking the votes of the electorate to govern mean well. They are seeking power in order to better the lives of the people and, indeed, wherever they mount the platform, they take the opportunity to offer hope to Ghanaians for a better future.
If really our politicians are committed to the welfare of the people, then the struggle for governance should not be a do-or-die affair where some politicians are prepared to sacrifice the peace and stability of the country for political expediency.
It is in this context that the Daily Graphic commends the former Member of Parliament (MP) for Kumbungu, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, for coming out boldly to support President Kufuor’s decision to nominate the former Vice- President for a national award.
The former MP told the Daily Graphic in an interview yesterday that in a country where party politics had brought so much division and polarisation, such a move should be seen as seeking to unify Ghanaians and send the signal that although “we may disagree politically, we are all important to the development of Mother Ghana”.
The Daily Graphic cautions the extremists on both sides of the political divide who try to politicise every move either by the government or the minority, to mend their ways in order to maintain the country's peace, unity and stability.
Let us use President Kufuor’s gesture to build bridges across the divide and bring people who, hitherto, had been sidelined for political reasons on board to contribute their quota to the national development agenda.
Everybody's contribution matters in our search for viable solutions to the challenges of nation building.