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It has long been recognized that the imbalance between a party in government and the opposition has raised much concerns of any republic.

In fact, the history of Ghana with its own distinctive form of democratic dispensation has been marked by periods of gridlock and deference to economic power. These have always to date been followed by dramatic moments of political renewal where the concerted efforts of political reformers have restored the balance. While political and economic freedoms do go hand-in-hand, they are always in tension with each other.

Political equality lies at the heart of democracy in that “all men are created equal” however in the African democracy some masses with different political colours have being treated differently from the others. While the ruling government and members of the opposition may have one vote each, economically the “golden rule” reigns supreme – he who has the gold makes the rules. However, whenever political opportunities operate in damaging ways, it is expected politics will correct the imbalance.

Group identity from the social psychology point of view has identified some behaviour that may naturally occur on a politician’s line of duty. The widespread occurrence of biased perceptions, judgements and behaviour has never seriously been questioned. This behaviour further shows up by rendering services and giving out opportunities to the masses where special treatment may be offered based on an individual’s political colour. This may occur as a result of many reasons as highlighted a few in the introduction.

Not to draw our attention to a winner takes all notion whichconnotes an extremely divisive and partisan sub-culture that excludes all other Ghanaians who are not part of the ruling party from national governance and decision making in a manner that polarizes the nation and dissipates the much needed talents and brains for national development, the present government has created a room for all-inclusive government. Government appointees from other political parties and some civil servant workers are still at post to show how determined they are to build a nation devoid of political colours in ruling the nation.

It is further interesting to note that these behaviours theoretically have been shown and favoured members of previous governments. The police, military, civil servants and individual from one political party or the other have been awarded contracts which are widely accepted.

Again, some sensitive arms of government with the discretion of the president and consultation from council of statehave had positions such as the chief justice, electoral commissioner, IGP just to mention but a few. The interest and reasons for such appointments and awarding of contracts needs not be deliberated on as the main focus is our identity as Ghanaians. As can be deduced from the national development planning process, the role of political parties,particularly those in opposition in development planning is minimal or sometimes may be non-existent.

In his capacity as a diplomat (Mr. AyisiBoateng) and on a national assignment, one may expect him not to voice out these widely accepted biased perceptions, judgements and behaviour which has never been questioned in every dispensation. However, members of the opposition party and some concerned Ghanaians seem to chastise him and rebuke his comment. In as much as we all disagree with his statement, we need to take into consideration the precedence of such occurrence. It is therefore the sole prerogative of the president to decide whether or not to remove him from office.

With this in mind, one would easily understand the behaviour
portrayed here which need not be strange and for that matter cause a divisive nation. However, what may have triggered this statement made by Mr Ayisis-Boateng also needs to be considered. Many have argued that the proliferation of vigilante groups in Africa and Ghana in particular, has been attributed by many scholars to the failure of the security services to guarantee safety. It will interest you to know that this may be only a part of the argument as the major reason may be providing jobs for these groups as promised them during their political campaigns.

In as much as one may agree with me, it has not been too early since the party was voted into office, the pressure from these group and the statement made by Mr. Ayisi-Boateng may be linked to reduce such occurrence of vandalism by vigilante groups across the country. Indeed his statement is not divisive as portrayed and that widespread occurrence of biased perceptions, judgements and behaviour has never seriously been questioned. Let’s sleeping dog lie. God bless our homeland Ghana.