One of the positive attributes of a democratic system of government is the granting of an atmosphere for the free trade or exchange of ideas on which society can move forward and how this can be done and the timing for doing so.
Through such exchanges, the good ideas come to the fore as a result of the synthesis of the various positions and these are subsequently fashioned into workable policies and programmes for the progress of the nation.
Since Ghana’s return to multiparty politics in 1993, the space for public discourse has both widened and deepened to include people of all walks of life.
Accordingly, we have found the appraisal of the actions and omissions, including criticisms and commendations, as active forms of participation in not only enriching the contents and directions of policy and programmes but also continuously asserting the people’s ownership of the process.
This renewal of confidence in the democratic process is important to keep the system alive and vibrant.
And for this to be effective, it must come with caveats including conducting such discourse on the basis of objective truth and facts that can both be verified and substantiated and which has candour, is decorous and accords dignity and respect to all.
In recent times, we have noted with concern some unhealthy deviations from this honourable approach to national discourse, which in the main has degenerated into the pouring of invectives and sometimes outright insults on the personality and Office of the President, our number one citizen.
While the President can be criticised and taken to task for acts of commission and omission that fall short of public expectation, we can and must do so without being insulting or being overly bitter and angry.
That office, being one of our key national symbols, deserves respect not for the sake of one individual but for the spirit and body of the nation today and for generations yet unborn.
It is, therefore, on this score that we agree with President John Evans Atta Mills that criticisms of his administration is healthy and welcome while insults and mindless condemnations only have the potential of undermining the seat of government.
While constructive criticism would position a listening government such as Mills’s to draw useful lessons and effect the appropriate corrections for the betterment of the nation, insults are only empty rantings that have nothing useful to contribute to enriching the content of policies and programmes of government for the people.
We find it as appropriate and worthy of note, the statement of the President, that he is very much in charge of the state of affairs, that his government in being cautious in taking and implementing decisions, is motivated by the desire to secure and sustain the supreme national interests and accordingly do what is right and proper for the benefit of all Ghanaians.
There can be no doubt about the fact that tact, caution, humility and the overriding consideration of the supreme national interests as attributes of Professor Mills, has brought much more respectability to the Presidency.
In the aftermath of the change of government in 2001, many top civil and public servants, on suspicion of their affiliation with the outgone National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, were asked by the new government to proceed on leave.
Today, under Professor Mills’s administration, no such orders are in operation. Even Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives appointed by the New Patriotic Party administration were asked to stay on until new chief executives were appointed in April, this year.
The infamous proceed-on-leave syndrome has given way to the dawn of a new era where the rule of law and the rights of all Ghanaians, irrespective of one’s political colouration ethnic and religious background and work without discrimination.
This is a remarkable change that jettisons revenge, victimisation and discrimination and one that, therefore, rightly deserves the assistance and support of all well-meaning Ghanaians.
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