A CALL FOR PEACE, CALM AND DISCIPLINE

For quite sometime now, some happenings in our body politic should give any well-meaning Ghanaian a cause to worry. A few of these may be catalogued as follows:

1. Increasing indiscipline at all levels of the society and a display of complete lack of respect even to the extent of bringing the Presidency into disrepute.
2. Seeming breakdown of law and order resulting in acts of impunity again, at all levels, which go unpunished.
3. The most dangerous, if not shameful, are occurrences of hate mongering, inciteful and ethnocentric pronouncements, pursuit of a vendetta agenda, utter intolerance for opposing views and other such negative tendencies which our dear nation is fed with through our media almost on daily basis.
4. Politicisation of our revered chieftaincy institution which fan the polarization and often lead to violence, at times with fatalities not to mention the retardation of development at the community level.
5. The despicable and nauseating, seemingly non-Christian conduct of persons calling themselves Pastors of our Redeemer Jesus Christ.

We of the Knighthood Forum of the Catholic Church, out of deep concern for the future of our nation, Ghana, are of the considered view that it is time for all well-meaning Ghanaians to stand up to speak to these potentially volatile and unsavory divisive tendencies which are gaining ground in our dear country. We of the Knighthood Forum wish to share our concerns with the leadership of political parties of our dear country Ghana as well as our revered traditional rulers and invite them to have nothing short of G-H-A-N-A in all they think or do.

We further appeal to the citizenry of this country to be circumspect in their pronouncement in the print media and particularly the electronic media. Let us all come to the realization that by each pronouncement or action or inaction on the part of each one of us, we are laying the foundation for the Ghana; a foundation we bequeath our children and indeed posterity.

The Knighthood Forum calls on all other recognizable bodies such as the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, Christian Council of Ghana, Pentecostal and Charismatic Councils, Muslim Council, Ahmadiya Council, GNAT, NUGS etc., to join us to mount a sustained and concerted national crusade to ameliorate the effects of a seeming state of political polarization which is mirroring itself in many shades.

As a way forward, it is imperative we all realize and appreciate that:

1. At every given time, there can be only one President of Ghana.
2. The sitting President should at all times be accorded all the respect due to his person and office by ALL. As President, he is the embodiment of our country Ghana. By extension, an attempt to tarnish the image of the Presidency tarnishes this country and all its citizens. In the same breath, we will advise that the President acts swiftly at all times with fairness and justice. Such is what may be considered a true hallmark of a President.
3. We call on the President of this land to ensures that state institutions are held fully accountable for the mandate for which they were established. Simply put, the law must be made to work.
4. Similarly, we request that former occupants of the highest office our land must also be accorded all the respect due that office. We appeal to such personalities of honour to so conduct themselves so as to be seen by all, including the international world, as true statesmen.
5. For Ghana to continue to be the oasis of peace and the beacon of hope of our continent, it behoves on not only our political and traditional leadership, but also everyone to cultivate a deep sense of tolerance of each other and of opposing views, respect for authority as well as of law and order and one’s self.
6. Let us all think of what we can do for Ghana and not always what Ghana can do for us. Discipline must be the hallmark in all aspects of our lives as Ghanaian.
7. We strongly appeal to all those with access to the media (both print and electronic) to realize that the media are very powerful tools that can do good yet cause great harm. They, therefore, must at all times bear in mind that they hold the key to either bringing about unity for the well-being of our nation or causing havoc, the consequences of which can be catastrophic to all. Do we need to remind ourselves that elsewhere, just a mere statement on radio brought about a horrendous and senseless civil war which we even now shudder to think of and ever remain a shame to our continent?
8. Our political leadership in particular should desist from exploiting the unfortunate circumstances of the poor and our youth to engage them in acts of lawlessness and hooliganism as recently witnessed outside our courts.
9. While commending the law enforcement agencies for the good work in fighting armed robberies in recent times, we will urge them still to be very professional in the discharge of all their duties without fear or favour by bringing to book any one falling foul of the law.
10. As a means for restoring full confidence in the judiciary, we are calling for prompt and speedy dispensation of justice.
11. We make a special appeal to all traditional rulers that their subjects look up to them to be rallying points for unity. We pray that our traditional leaders appreciate and encourage unity in diversity. It is out hope that as our rulers, they will allow restraint and peace to prevail in any intra or inter tribal misunderstandings that have unfortunately reared up in our society.
12. Let our deviant pastors remember that God is ever merciful and accepts back the repentant sinner. They should, however, also not forget that He is also a just Judge and particularly abhors those who scandalize His children.

We have only one Ghana and it is the duty of each one of us to help preserve the peace of our dear country. We cannot afford to fail our dear motherland, our children and children’s children.

God bless Ghana!