Ghanaians have civic duty to support ruling government - Owusu-Yeboa

Tsito, April 1, GNA - Mr Kwasi Owusu-Yeboa, Volta Regional Minister on Wednesday said it is the civic duty of every Ghanaian to support the government in power even when the party of one's choice does not form that government. In his view political differences should only manifest in earnest during elections, when people naturally would want the party they support to win power.

Mr Owusu-Yeboa made these observations during an interaction with the chiefs and elders of Tsito-Awudome as part of a duty tour to inspect some development projects in the area. He said the crux of government's programme was to tackle poverty and wondered why people, because of their support for other political parties other than the governing party, should act and speak to undermine those policies.

"Poverty is party blind, if you are poor your are poor and government should be assisted to stimulate growth and employment through the numerous poverty reduction projects going on," he stated.

Mr Owusu-Yeboa said opposition to government, or "correctional statements" should not reflect bitterness as is happening since they could make government uncomfortable in its relationship with sources of such outbursts. He said the tendency among Ghanaians to see themselves as belonging to one tribe or the other before considering themselves as Ghanaians is a challenge that must be tackled.

"Every tribe has it strengths and weaknesses and it is only through cooperation that we would succeed as a nation," he said. The Minister said since colonial times chiefs had been considered crucial to governance and must remain supportive of governments at all times.

He praised the Chiefs and people of Tsito for their self-help spirit saying that he was sure that projects initiated in the area by government and by the people would be completed on schedule.