News:
January 11, 2012
The Communication Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Member of Parliament for Okaikoi South, Nana Akomea has said the politics of insults in Ghanaian political discourse is far from over.
According to him, this will remain so, as long as the communication team of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) party decide to make insulting the Opposition leader Nana Akufo Addo, a regular feature in their political discussion.
The MP expressed these concerns following the admonishing by President John Attah Mills when he met the media on the need for Ghanaians especially political commentators to watch the language and the sort of words they spew out when engaging in political debates.
He said what is needed in a political argument is logic, mental agility; power to focus and to make cogent deductions, adding that no amount of insults can win an argument.
However speaking on Oman FM’s Boiling Point programme on Tuesday night, Nana Akomea urged President Mills to first advice the ‘acid tongue’ party commentators and some sector ministers who stop at nothing to insult their political opponents.
He noted that President Mills has allowed his officials who are guilty of this act to go scot free without him condemning or punishing any of them to serve as a deterrent to others who trade such insults, but only come out occasionally to speak out against politics of insults.
“President Mills looks on unconcerned as his officials insult Nana Akufo Addo at will and sometimes publish baseless stories about him, but President Mills fails to hear this and see, he comes out in his usual populist best to come and speak against politics of insult, this act of hypocrisy on the part of the President must stop.
Nana Akomea added that the NPP is committed to running a clean campaign devoid of verbal attacks on personalities in the run-up to the December general elections and will continue to uphold this position, but that the NPP may be forced to go the same road as the NDC if they continue to make baseless claims against Nana Akufo Addo the subject of their arguments.
kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh