We Salute Funeral Committee

In less than three weeks, the Funeral Planning Committee successfully organised a befitting send-off for our late President, Professor John Evans Atta Mills.

In spite of the anticipated challenges, the Daily Graphic believes the committee did exceptionally well and deserves commendation.

We doff our hats for whoever took the decision to compose the bi-partisan committee that involved all shades of opinion in the deliberation for the state burial.

The moment President Mills died, and even before the declaration of state mourning, the various political parties suspended their political campaigns in reverence for our departed President. Just five months to the general election, all political parties sacrificed their goal of winning political power in December in order to have one voice for the preparations towards the funeral.

The usually explosive polemics on the airwaves and newspapers gave way to the expression of unity in diversity.

The beauty of this unity in diversity was on show at the Independence Square last Friday where majority of the people converged and at the roadside to wave miniature national flags.

During the mourning period, the Daily Graphic wondered whether this was the same Ghana that we lived in prior to the death of President Mills on July 24, 2012.

It must be clear to all of us that if we bond as a team, we will achieve greater heights because together we all can achieve more.

It will be a tragedy if after the burial of President Mills we go back to the smear campaign just to win political power.

We also appeal to those who will win political power to revisit the winner-takes-all policy where after the declaration of results, those in public service and perceived to be on the opposition side are hounded out of office.

We pride ourselves as a God-fearing country but it appears it is taking us far too long to learn from our experiences in recent times.

The 2008 general election which was a virtual 50-50 affair between the majority National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the minority New Patriotic Party (NPP) was a wake-up call for unity.

Again, the way Ghanaians came together to bury President Mills, which has won for us international praise, shows that indeed in unity lies strength.

Multiparty democracy requires that the people are offered opportunities to make choices. This also means elections are about competition. But we must remember that democratic governance is not a licence to propagate insults, hate speech and personal attacks and sow seed of discord among the people.

The Daily Graphic appeals to all who have the capacity to serve in any position to consider the plight of the excluded and use their positions to advance the cause of humanity.

Politics will continue to be relevant to our society only if it serves the public good. It was in that light that President Mills on the day of his inauguration on January 7, 2009, reiterated that he would not practise the politics of exclusion.

This is the best legacy to President Mills, who is extolled as a man of peace, humility and tolerance.