With the 2024 elections approaching, a number of Zongo communities have been speaking out against the old-age politics of insults, deceit and propaganda, particularly aimed at winning votes in Zongo communities.
Leading figures in Zongo community have already condemned this practice which have surfaced in the build up to the 2024 elections with some political parties employing this age-old tactic of name calling, insults, lies and propaganda against their opponents.
The latest to join the condemnation is the leadership of Ashaiman Zongo which has called for decency.
At the latest edition of Zongo Connect, an interactive community-level programme for Zongo communities, organized by Accra-based Iqra Radio, Zongo Chiefs of Ashaiman called for issue-based campaign, rather than insults.
“This year’s election, we all have a role to play, especially the Chiefs and elders. We need to keep educating our people not to be insulting and not to be violent. We should not allow anyone to make it a campaign of insults in the Zongos and in Ashaiman.”
“Here in Ashaiman Zongo, we don’t want politics to divide us because we are one people, so we want to appeal to all those who seek to divide us to stop. We want development and that’s what the campaign should focus on”, Ashaiman Zongo Chief said.
The Chief added; “Election is all about choices. It is like going into the market, you look out for the best and go for it. This should not divide us, because we want the best for our community.”
Another elder hit hard at those who, because of politics, go to the extent of questioning the faith of their fellow Muslims.
“When it comes to politics, some of the political parties come to Zongo and use us, especially the youth. This should not be the case…Another problem is politics of insult. It should not be entertained because it is divisive. It is disheartening to see a Muslim calling his fellow Muslim names that he is not a proper Muslim because of politics. This is unacceptable”, he stated.
Another speaker, Alhaji Issah, said due to lack of education and unemployment, the youth of Zongo were often used to perpetuate election-related incidents which he said brought shame to Zongo communities.
However, he observed that with a significant improvement in the education of the youth, such unfortunate development has reduced significantly in Ashaiman in recent years.
He said; “The key issues affecting us in Zongo was lack of education. We really needed it for our youth. Previously, here in Ashaiman, politicians used to come here with 20 cedis to recruit our young people for all sort of violence. But now it has reduced significantly and I believe it is because of access to education.”
He also called for more job opportunities for the youth to ensure they are not lured into unacceptable political activities.
Unanimously, both the Ashaiman Zongo Chiefs and their elders agreed that the era of the politics of insults and inducement should be rejected for issues and development-based politics.
The community further expressed their gratitude to Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for helping a brilliant student from the Ashaiman community to be one of 40 brilliant but needy students sent to Cuba by the government on scholarship in 2020 to pursue medicine.
Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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