Bootlegging Gunpowder Canisters: The Explosive Consequences Of Lobbying For Positions Along Ethnic Lines

As a small town boy growing up in Akim New Tafo, it didn't matter the ethnic background of my friends. We played, ate and schooled together - Fantes, Krobos, Frafras, Kotonkoris, Basaris, Dagbanes, Gas, Ewes, Ashantis, Nzemas, Kwawus, Igbos, Yurobas, Akwapems, Christians, Muslims, Pagans, and what have you. We saw ourselves as children of God, at least our Holy Books taught us so. At school, our teachers were from different regions of the country, including a few from neighboring countries. Our parents, particularly, those who were teachers and civil servants were periodically transferred from one part of the country to another.

Regional and District administrators did not necessarily hail from the same locality where they worked. This phenomenon led to a lot of intermarriages that led to hybrid offsprings, thereby almost obliterating hitherto misconceptions and prejudices that might have existed erroneously. It was a kaleidoscope of humanity - a rainbow spectrum of religions, ethnic groups, different nationalities, and many in between.

Our forebears, in their collective wisdom, did everything possible to maintain this quasi ethnic- religious balance by stipulating certain provisions in our various constitutions to sustain the status quo.

However, instead of holding on to such a peaceful system bequeathed to us tenaciously, a very dangerous and obnoxious culture is insidiously creeping into our body politic - people lobbying for political positions along regional and ethnic lines. This repugnant culture has been trending for some time now, developing seriously frightening and troubling political tectonic fault lines which, if care is not taken, will result in a major socio-political upheaval.

Using traditional and tribal opinion leaders to lobby for position is destructive politics that can give rise to ethnic nationalism which may lead to civil strife. It's alright to be very creative and lobby based on issues, irrespective of the ethnic identity of the beneficiary. However, to lobby along tribal, religious, and regional lines is tantamount to soldering a gasoline tanker with an oxyacetylene blow torch - HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE! The annoyance of it all is, the arguments advanced by these ethnocentric lobbyists are usually baseless and ring hollow. What they don't realize is that their use of ethnicity as a resource for lobbying is very dangerous and pose a security threat to our dear nation.

To contain and arrest the spread of this cancer, there is a need for parliament to enact anti discrimination laws that will criminalize prosecuting any political activity along ethnic lines.

It's Robin Cook who said, "If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then probably it is a duck." It's very glaring the gun powder canisters are simmering, a harbinger of danger ahead.

Yes, coming events cast their shadows; the subtle political alchemy that is developing is very treacherous and if we fail to stem the tide now, we will be doing ourselves a great disservice!

WATCH OUT TODAY
TOMORROW MAY BE TOO LATE
Charles Biney
In my ghetto