NPP presidential hopeful Kwabena Agyei Agyepong has cautioned that Ghana’s democracy must be defended from the corrosive effects of lies, propaganda and intemperate political language.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express, Agyepong said he belongs to a generation that has lived through Ghana’s difficult political transitions.
“I am lucky enough to have transitioned the changes in politics in this country from the military era through the civilian transition to now, and also the technological advances. I see myself as a bridge, because I’m old enough to have seen what happened in 1980 through 1992 to the handover in 2001 and to now, where a lot of things are happening that our fathers never could have dreamed of.”
He stressed that democracy did not come easily and must be guarded.
“It’s important that those values that really anchored the formation of our political party. It needed men of courage, dedication, values, principles, sacrifice and selflessness to be able to even identify yourself with this political tradition.
“Today, it’s a completely different world we are in. We are in a free society, and that is why, when I get any opportunity, I want to educate the Ghanaian that the journey that we have travelled was not a simple one. It wasn’t an easy one. It was a very difficult journey. So we’ve got to guard jealously the democracy that we have.”
While acknowledging frustrations about the economic returns from democracy, he argued it remains far better than authoritarianism.
“Yes, we have to acknowledge that the economic dividend that we’re expecting from democracy hasn’t really yielded what we were expecting. That’s a fact, and therefore it’s created a new population that is disillusioned, angry, and that is justified.
“We understand that, but it is also important for them to understand that democracy is so much better than autocracy or military dictatorship, and it took the sweat, the toil, the blood and tears of many well-meaning Ghanaians to get us this far.
“So those who poison the atmosphere with intemperate language, attacks, downright lies, propaganda, just because they believe that if you tell a lie so many times, it’s like the truth, must stop, as it can confuse a few people. I’m not the kind of person to do that.”
He called for courageous leadership that prioritises national interest over political expediency.
“I believe right now in Ghana, a country is crying for the type of leader who’s got the courage and conviction to take difficult decisions, even unpopular, even if it will cause you politically, it’s important, because we have to do things for the interest of the larger community, not for ourselves.
“I believe politics is not about ourselves. It’s about the larger good. The centrality of it is the welfare of the ordinary person, especially the underprivileged.”
Kwabena Agyepong, who described himself as a staunch Methodist, lamented the breakdown in respect and civility in public discourse.
“Those days, we were brought up to respect our elders. It doesn’t mean that you cannot disagree with your elder, but in a respectful manner.”
He also warned of the social pressures created by rapid population growth.
“So it’s not only economic problems we face or political problems, a lot of social problems that we are not dealing with as a country, and that goes to the core of our nation and is eating at us gradually.
“And there’s been a population explosion. Right now, we are heading towards 35 million, and so that has increased drastically over the last 10-15 years.
“The infrastructure that we have and the nation hasn’t expanded too much to be able to assimilate and contain all these teeming youth, and it’s come with it, an army of disappointed and disillusioned youngsters that we’ve got to find a way. And I feel we are not careful, we’ll be sitting on a time bomb.”