Let`s take a cue from Kenya…Mumuni advises Ghanaians

Vice Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2004 elections, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, says talking of 2008 as an election year in Ghana should remind all Ghanaians about the tragic developments in Kenya arising from flawed elections. “Recent events in Kenya coming shortly after elections in Nigeria again demonstrate the fragility of African Democracy,” he said.

The influential northern politician reminded Ghanaians that the internecine conflict and blood-letting in Kenya, should awaken all Ghanaians to the grim reality that there is a high price to pay if one seeks to pervert electoral processes to achieve personal agenda that are subversive of the right of the people to choose their rulers in a free, transparent and democratic way.

He further observed that the recent events in Kenya and other parts of Africa should inform and strengthen the resolve by Ghanaians to make election 2008 a showcase of African democracy and an improvement on previous elections.

In his new year message to Ghanaians, he implored all citizens to resolve in this election year, to elect into office, a set of competent economic mangers who will be capable of re-linking economic sufficiency and social progress of Ghana.

The former Vice Presidential candidate said, “It is my fervent prayer that 2008 will bring to our long suffering masses, relief from the hardships and deprivations that they have had to endure over the past few years.”

Alhaji Mumuni said Ghanaians should elect a government whose policies and programmes are underpinned by a social democratic agenda and has as its core values, equity, social and distributive justice and equalization of opportunities.

“There is the need to have a government that will move the social dimension from the periphery of the economy to which it has been banished by the unprogressive policies of the NPP administration, to the heart of macro-economic policy,” he said, adding that it is the only way of creating jobs, achieving better income redistribution, narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor and promoting a fairer and more equitable access to social services.

“The eruption of ethnic tensions and conflict in Bawku, culminating in some fatalities should serve as a timely warning that we should never take for granted, the peace, stability and security of all parts of our country,” the former Member of Parliament for Kumbungu admonished.

Alhaji Mumuni said there was an urgent need to fashion early warning mechanisms and build capacities to proactively pre-empt or effectively grapple with conflicts with a view to their prevention, effective and efficient management, and timely resolution.

“Politicians and our leaders especially, must be sensitive in their actions and utterances and must at all times, consciously and deliberately focus on the peace perspective of every situation so as not to stoke the embers of conflict,” he advised.

On the performance of the government, the NDC stalwart said the over-concentration by the NPP government on macro-economic stability to the virtual exclusion of the social dimension has created a divorce between economic efficiency and social progress.

He said despite the apparent positive macro-economic indicators, the current situation is characterized by intolerable high cost of goods and services, deteriorating living conditions, unfair and inequitable access to social services, ever widening gap between the have and have-nots, unemployment and growing poverty.