Editorial: Propaganda-Driven Utterances

The fine details about the next financial year�s budget are not yet out to support an informed discussion on the budget. Be it as it may, there have been superficial discussions from both sides of the political divide. These, as usual, have been punctuated with the usual abrasive rhetoric by some personalities noted for that line of deliveries. Indeed, such persons have sought to toe the line of permanent propaganda which even after their elevations, has remained their hallmark. They continue to rant as though they were on the campaign trail somewhere in Northern Volta, promising Manna from Heaven when Prof Mills comes to power. The Prof has become President and the Manna is falling from the heavens like snow during winter. We are saddened by the fact that such persons have developed stunted political growth, learning nothing in what can pass for their long stay in politics. Otherwise, why would a person who considers himself a bona fide son of this country, who can point at his ancestral homes in Ghana, refer to a previous budget as cocaine-driven. While we deem such an utterance reckless, we also add that it is irresponsible and indeed not commensurate with the status of Ghanaian citizenship. We are beginning to doubt the citizenship of such persons, given their reckless badmouth. It is high time that we learnt to behave in a manner which exudes respect, especially when we are entrusted with responsible positions in government. We have said it before that permanent propaganda, with the obsession of making the previous government look bad, is not worth the trouble because it does not click. The incessant application of this rather simplistic and pedantic approach to governance does not present the incumbent government as worth taking serious. We have gone deep into the tenure of an Atta Mills presidency and would rather more serious things are done, as opposed to the continuous hiding behind the �the NPP government is to blame for the predicament we find ourselves in.� President Mills came to power with a promise to fix what he saw as a damaged economy and so we expect him to have primed himself adequately for this task. He appears to be fumbling as he resorts to pointing charging fingers at the previous government for their inadequacies. Blimey! Why can�t they just fix the ailing economy and stop the incessant ranting, as Ghanaians have had enough of the crap. The blame-game won�t take us anywhere other than the political abyss which we do not want to be. The unprecedented 7.3 percent GDP growth recorded last year, which the incumbent seek to confine to the waste-bin, is real and documented by respectable think-tanks and economic research bodies, local and international. We find it absurd that while discussing the marginal aspects of the budget, even before the fine details, political leaders on the other side of the political divide would find solace in spewing unprintable sentences in the name of debates. Describing the previous government as reckless in their management of the country�s fiscal matters, is to say the least unfortunate and not good governance. As we await the fine details of the budget, we can only add that the budget statement is not a rocket science but a presentation. All Ghanaians have the responsibility of making it work to their advantage because a worse Ghana is a disaster for all of us, NDC and NPP alike. The blame-game is part of the permanent propaganda. We abhor it because playing politics with the economy is the worst thing to happen to the fortune of a sovereign nation.