Nation�s Woes: Politicians & Media Blamed

Leading members of the Catholic and Presbyterian Churches in Ghana have taken politicians and the media to task for the spectre of a polarized nation. The strong reaction was apparently provoked by the recent Akwatia by-election and the recent Agbogbloshie violence. While castigating the media for dwelling too much on bad news and too little on good news, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, the Most Rev. Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, condemned politicians for inflammatory statements and for fomenting divisiveness for their own political agenda. In an interview with the Daily Guide, Most Rev. Palmer-Buckle reminded media practitioners that the world needed good news and not the old acrimony, be it tribal, political or religious. �I will plead with the media to talk about differences and not tell Ghanaians that the nation is divided into two and pit one against the other. The media must give our children, youth and Ghanaians a better future,� he said. Most Rev. Palmer-Buckle, who is the Vice President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, said he was personally convinced that what was happening was a seeming polarization for the nation. �Seeming polarisation because I want to blame the media for exacerbating the differences as if all Ghanaians are polarised. Having political differences or holding different political opinions is no indication of polarization,� he said. He said when he listened to some of the discussions and debated on the electronic media or read some articles in the print media, �I am tempted to say that the media is not wielding that double-edged sword of informing and transforming, which is the power of the word, constructively�. The Catholic Archbishop also cautioned opticians both past and present, not to indulge in inflammatory statements or foment divisiveness for their own political agenda. According to him, democracy was a painstaking exercise, which must take into consideration the rule of law and the opinion of different stakeholders� in the development of the country. �If democracy is the rule of the people, by the people and for the people, then the people should be able to have a say without entering into conflict,� he said. He appealed to Ghanaians to learn from the sad experience of Cote D�Ivoire, Togo, Niger and elsewhere so that �we do not go the same way.�