Editorial: Who Born Dog?

Conflicts among siblings, households and even within members of a government or political groupings, are standard occurrences. Our conflicting dispositions are reasons why we belong to different political parties. In all civilized communities, such situations are managed maturely, especially since history is replete with similar scenarios and how they were managed. Persons or institutions beset with such occurrences simply refer to the notes of a similar happening, with a view to adopting the appropriate templates to manage the anomaly. Conflicts, though constitute features of our societies, must not be allowed to degenerate into states where they detract us from our set goals or objectives. When these trends set in, then we have a major challenge in our hands. We must not allow things to get to this level. The differences between the incumbent President John Evans Atta Mills and ex-president Jerry John Rawlings, both in the same party, are definitely getting out of hand and we cannot pretend that all is well. The symptoms are so glaring that when the incumbent president claims there is nothing unusual, we can only impute insincerity or an unnecessary piece of diplomacy on his part. Much as these, for us newspersons, sound newsworthy and therefore worth publishing and airing, we shudder to think about their negative repercussions on the country. It is our preference that Mr. President is accorded the reverence and peace of mind to allow him undertake the arduous challenge of attending to the duties of state and providing us with water, employment and a host of other demands. The occasional vitriolic outbursts, to state the least, are worrying and we are concerned that they could impact negatively on the fortunes of the country. There is a story about the latest in such outbursts from the ex-President in which the rather unattractive rhetoric question “who born dog?” is posed, as he descends on the incumbent President. No matter what whitewashing is applied, it is bad enough to warrant a commentary. The outbursts, no doubt, suggest that the internal conflicts in the NDC are not being managed properly because of the preference of those at the helm of the party’s affairs to incessantly sweep them under the carpet when they rear their heads. For how long can this situation be allowed to fester? The elders of the party and members of the Council of State, most of who are NDC sympathizers, can do something about the unacceptable development. And it would be in the interest of the party and the country if their efforts reverse the situation. Mr. Jerry John Rawlings, regardless of what impression some Ghanaians have about him, is a former head of state and therefore deserving of an accompanying respect. Let Mr. Rawlings therefore conduct and contain himself in a manner which would not reduce his esteem in the eyes of Ghanaians and the rest of the world. As a citizen or an elder of the NDC, Mr. Rawlings is entitled to holding his own views but in expressing these, he must show appropriate reverence to the high office which he once held so that its sanctity is upheld at all times. Such outbursts, which are becoming all too common, hurt the nation, party and the democratic heritage we are building for ourselves and posterity. Credit: Daily Guide