Needless 'politicisation, hypocrisy' holding Ghana back – Otumfuo

Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has expressed deep worry at the extent to which national issues bordering on development continue to be politicised in Ghana.

“Politics is dividing Ghana. We have politicised almost everything. This is the truth, and we need to be candid about this,” the Asante monarch bemoaned.

“We should know that the nation’s interest is above partisan politics,” he told the executive members of the National Peace Council (NPC) when they paid a courtesy call on him at the Manhyia Palace, Kumasi.

The delegation, led by the Most Reverend Professor Emmanuel Asante, Chairman of the Council, was at the Palace to thank the Asantehene for his unflinching support for the cause of peace and unity in the country.

The visit was also to convey the Council’s gratitude to the traditional leader for leading the Committee of Eminent Chiefs to find a lasting solution to the Dagbon crisis, following nearly two decades of conflict between the Abudu and Andani royal families.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu said it was imperative that the leadership of the nation muster the courage to uphold the sense of honesty and truthfulness in the discharge of their duties.

“There cannot be any meaningful development if we approach national and other sensitive issues in a hypocritical manner,” Otumfuo noted.

He cited how recent efforts to end political vigilantism in all its forms had dragged due to the political and selfish interests of some political leaders.

“We all know the nation has her own criminal code and laid-down rules and regulations in meting out punishment to wrongdoers, but due to politics and hypocrisy, it has become difficult for us to enforce our own laws to the letter,” Otumfuo Osei Tutu observed.

This, he said, must change if Ghana is to build a prosperous and an investor-friendly society.

Most Rev. Prof. Asante, in an earlier address, lauded the Asantehene for his commitment to promoting peace and unity in the country.