They identified the foregone during a three-day workshop to discuss a report on the subject capturing their concerns in a joint communiqué in the end.
The workshop was addressed by Professors Kwamena Ahwoi, Kenneth Attafuah, Ambassador Kabral Blay- Amihere and Mr. Ransford Tetteh.
The country, participants observed, is polarized at the national level, among political parties, within political parties, between institutions of state and among political personalities.
Whereas the causes of inter-party polarization are ethnicity, the ‘revolutions’ of the past and their victims, the problems of the 2001 and 2009 transitions, the perception of selective justice, perceived abuse of the judicial process and partisan employment practices of political parties when in power, intra-party polarization on the other hand, the workshop observed, arises from ethnicity, ideology, the role of promoters of political parties and issues of financial accountability of political party office holders among others.
Participants pointed at the media as exacerbating the polarization in the country through avoidable excesses and sometimes deliberate untruths.
Continuing with the role of the media in polarization, they noted that the poor conditions of service for journalists, the profit motives of media owners and the ownership of media establishments by politicians, all aggravate the situation.
The workshop noted that the absence of an appropriate forum at the regional and constituency levels contributed to the exacerbated polarization at those levels.
It was agreed that the absence of effective national institutions to contribute to the system of checks and balances in the governance arrangements of the country is partly responsible for the polarization.
It was a decision of the workshop that the basic document used for the discussion should be reviewed to include the suggestions made and agreed upon including inter-institutional polarization, the role of the media, the foot soldier phenomenon and the 2009 transition.
The workshop finally agreed that there should be a follow-up validating workshop to confirm the reviewed report at which workshop consensual recommendations will be made to the appropriate authorities.
The workshop expressed gratitude to Dasebre Oti Boateng, Omanhene of the New Juaben Traditional Area for chairing the opening ceremony and the first session of the engagement and to the media for what according to participants would hopefully be a fair, accurate and objective coverage of the proceedings.
Appending their signatures for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) were Baba Jamal, Deputy Minister of Information and Chairman of the Publicity Committee and Mr. S.P. Adamu, Policy Analyst of the NDC.
Signing for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) were Kwaku Agyenim-Boateng, Deputy General Secretary, Mr. Kwaku Kwateng, Policy Analyst, NPP and Ms. Otiko Djaba, National Women’s Organizer, NPP.
Alhaji Ahmed Ramadan, National Chairman for the People’s National Convention (PNC), Mr. Bernard Monah, General Secretary, PNC and Hajia Hajara Musa Ali, National Women’s Organizer all signed for their party.
Doing same for the Convention People’s Party (CPP) were Mrs. Evelyn Anabila, National Organizer, Mr. William Dowokpor, Policy Analyst and Hajia Hamdatu Haruna, National Women’s Organizer.
By A.R. Gomda
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