Our unfaithful constitution and its implications

To us Ghanaians, the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana serves as a guide to our conduct, a moderator for our actions and inactions and a protection for the weak. Far before the existence of such a powerful tool like our constitution, many were those who suffered instant justice, sentence by hanging and survival of the fittest. However with the formulation and adoption of such a good earthly scripture, which allows the hearing for all no matter the gravity of one’s crime, many are saved from Wrongful sentences and torture.

The Constitution has created a harmonious environment for democratic fora at all levels of leadership in Ghana. It has made our motherland gain worldwide recognition since our level of democracy cannot be compared with prominent countries like the United States of America.

Despite the uncountable benefits that we get from constitutional rule, it has served as grounds for people to go beyond their limits with the hope of being defended by the constitution. It is the constitution that guarantees freedom of speech and expression of opinion but does not allow one to damage the moral values of colleague citizens. If my memory will set me right, the times of Busia, Afrifa, Rawlings and the likes, no citizen was given room to give constructive criticisms or even contributing to the policies of ruling governments.

With the knowledge and understanding of contemporary politics and progress in modern world, Rawlings accepted constitutional rule and it is a headache for Ghana in some cases. Day-in-day-out, our leaders are seen being verbally attacked by different groups of people with different kinds of insults and descriptions. On various social media platforms, our leaders are pictorially described to the world which is so sad to see. We are leaning on our rights to sell and wash our dirty panties in the face of the world. On Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and WhatsApp, we badly represent our leaders in animations and metaphorical comparisons. If we dislike the actions of our leaders does not grant us any constitutional right to call them by the names of second-class animals.

As a country that is an icon in the African continent, we must not sell our integrity to the world due to our parochial interest to win political power. It is time we hold steadfast to the principles of our grandparents which are the basis of all religious and moral values. We have all heard and preached the gospel of loving your neighbour as yourself. We have all been taught the honor that we must give to elders and leaders hence our presidents, members of parliament, MMDCEs and other stakeholders be given nothing less than such honorary and moral respect.

Though I am a layman to the principles of our beloved constitution, I have the hope that the drafters and experts of it should sit again to give some restrictions to some rights as spelt out in our constitution. In as much as we have the right to express our opinion, limitations to it must guide us from forcefully leveling allegations on people due to their progress in life. The constitution should be made active to protect us and our leaders from public defamation.

Social media is the order of the day and has taken a chunk of aspects of contemporary development and a means of advertisement and marketing. This notwithstanding, we must control the use of social media in Ghana to ensure sanity and protection to our core values and culture.

One of the principles of money is scarcity. However, on our various social media platforms, we see people who claim chanting money through whom people can be rich without any invitation to answer questions. This has made many young Ghanaians believe in spiritual sources of money hence make naught or little efforts to get themselves good to sustain them in life. With control to what people post on social media, people will be responsible to what they put online for viewers.

Until government takes key interest in keeping our social media clean, we will continue to live with high issues of cybercrimes, unemployment and armed robbery. We must not lose our values with excuses of constitutional right. Long live mother Ghana and Africa.