Politicians Must Guide Their Public Statements � Lecturer

A Political Science Lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, KNUST, Mohamed Abass, is calling on politicians to adopt the political skill of examining and scrutinizing their statements before mounting any political platform in order to avoid hurting people�s sensibilities. Speaking on Kumasi based Ultimate Radio; he indicated that the tendency for politicians to speak to suit such gatherings by not scrutinizing their speeches can be lost in the charged moment of politicking. His advice comes in the wake of a massive backlash against President Mahama for comments he made during his working tour of the Ashanti Region purporting that in Kumasi; the works of his administration would never be appreciated. Many have read meanings into it tagging the comment as ethnocentric. Commenting on the development, he made a strong case for politicians to realize that politics is �about diplomacy and persuasion and the ability to move people from one point to a desired understanding of issues.� He advocated that it was hard time high ranking politicians realized that their capacities as national leaders makes their words weightier than any other person�s statement that could ordinarily be esteemed. �I am not saying don�t speak your realities but in politics, you don�t just attack but you find a way of bringing the people to the fact of their reality in a very matured way that before they realize, this is what it is, and then you move them to where you want to take them. Political skill is the key here and not just to speak as an ordinary person would do,� he advised. He proposed that going forward, political authorities study the demeanor of people they are to address and ensure that things don�t get so murky to demand public retraction and apologies.