Politics Of Insults?

The very people who are shouting from the rooftops about the so called politics of insults, which in my opinion is a figment of their own imagination, are completely oblivious of the fact that it is not a rare occurrence in our political discourse. The UP tradition used it against Kwame Nkrumah, accusing him among others of worshiping Kankan Nyame; which indeed if it were the case, was purely a private matter as there was no prescribed religion for the presidency. Then, it wasn’t politics of insults. You know what? Those who seek to advance this banal argument that, a scrutiny of the moral character of any political figure, amounts to insults, are a disgrace to the literate constituency; and blatant abusers of logic and common sense.

Everybody is just jumping on the band wagon of ‘’stop the politics of insults’’ not bothering to check who the driver really is, but the last time I checked, the driver was the NPP. The NPP are cunningly tagging even a critique of their flag bearer’s indiscretions as insults, in order to divert people’s attention from the excess baggage the latter allegedly comes with as someone seeking the mandate of the people. It is not only our moral duty, but also, an intellectual imperative, to let the electorates know the character of the person or persons, seeking their mandate.

History is littered with a glut of examples of the scrutiny of the indiscretions of political figures all over the world, and it should be no different in Ghana. Only recently, presidential hopeful Herman Cain suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination in the USA, when allegations of sexual harassment were levelled against him. In 2010, Gordon Brown’s temper was used against him in the UK general elections by his opponents. Also, allegations of drug use (during his school days in Oxford) were levelled against David Cameron in the leadership contest of the Conservative party in 2005. These are examples coming from the most advanced democracies in the world.

There is a huge gulf between calling somebody stupid fool (Maxwell Kofi Jumah-NPP), idiot (Ken Aggyapong -NPP), devil (former president Kuffour -NPP), thief (Former president Rawlings -NDC), fruit cake (Hannah Bissiw -NDC) etc., and merely regurgitating the indiscretions of someone, incessantly. Putting a person’s moral character under the microscope is legitimate, and should by no means be misconstrued as insults. People calling for the practice to stop are a threat to our society and culture; they are indirectly advocating that, we completely cut adrift the moorings, which held our forefathers steady. The message these people are sending out is that, one could live his or her life anyhow and still qualify to become the president of Ghana.

The same people who inexorably call on the President to come clean on his health, all of a sudden, are conscious of the fact that, a person’s private life must be separated from his political life. Indeed, on the health of the President, I have heard the NPP argue on various platforms that, once a person decides to become a public figure, his or her private life ceases to be private. It is border line insanity, to suggest that, all that matters in a leader are his policies and Ideas; they are part and parcel of the whole package. The truth does not, and never has, come, unadorned; and it hurts. People, who cannot, intellectually, defend their flag bearer’s moral character but rather resort to thuggery, have no place in the political space.

May I cautiously suggest that, any political figure in Ghana who is uncomfortable with his or her private life being played out in public, retires from party politics? That is the nature of the beast called ‘Democracy’. Democracy for all of its obvious virtues comes with a lot of unintended consequences, and character scrutiny is one of them.

People, who are tagging a scrutiny of the indiscretions of political figures as politics of insults, are the ones inflaming passions in Ghana.

We must not settle for anything, but the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(By: David Klutse)