Editorial Daily Searchlight of Tuesday, 12th September
Let Us Remove Pettiness from Public Life
Recently, it was reported that a traditional ruler refused to accept the gifts and homage of a politician. It was later explained that the politician has been making provocative remarks against the traditional ruler, which thus entitled the traditional ruler, in his own opinion, to publicly humiliate the politician.
Ghana is a free and democratic state, and therefore people are fee and entitled to behave in a way they believe is best suited for them. We however believe that the nation would proceed further in her aims at development, if people in leading positions in our country would eschew pettiness and common behavior similar to the behavior of fishwives.
It is a matter of common knowledge and assumption that politicians are corrupt or may be corrupt. However, that mantle can in no way be ascribed to politicians alone; corruption in this country goes far deeper and wider than just politicians. We believe that it is a sad day in our country when a leading figure would be subject to public embarrassment because another public figure believes that he or she is entitled to jump on his or her high moral horse to judge others on corruption.
It is simply not fair.
The beauty of festivals and cultural gatherings is that all are welcome, even the worst of enemies. We can smile and convivial together, and leave the pettiness for deserving occasions.
We believe that the moral grandstanding that some leaders in Ghana have suddenly adopted should be put on the back burner so that we can focus on issues of development, particularly when all hands may not be as clean as some would portray them to be.
