Koforidua, Nov 07, GNA - Daasebre Oti Boateng, the Omanhene of New Juaben Traditional Area, has urged Ghanaians to subordinate tribal and other sectarian feelings to the principles enshrined in the constitution that recognizes the equality of all citizens.

He said it was important that people especially those in responsible positions refrain from whipping and putting their tribal considerations ahead of national aspirations.

Daasebre Oti Boateng said this when he addressed a seminar on ethnocentrism and its impact on the national development effort at the third Eastern Regional Cultural Week celebration at Koforidua over the weekend.

He said there was no scientific evidence that backed the notion that some groups of people were genetically superior to others and that those propagating such views were probably doing so because of arrogance.

Daasebre Oti Boateng said it was important that Ghanaians came to reckon that the development of the nation called for the total commitment and dedication of all of its peoples and not some of them. ''Any stratification in the social structure, therefore, should solely be to reward merit and ability devoid of any other pre-conceived notions or biases.''

Mr Tom Bennet Brentuo, the Eastern Regional Chairman of the Ghana Journalists Association, appealed to journalists to let the carnage that visited Burundi, Rwanda and some West African countries to dissuade them from publishing "hate literature".

The media, as the mirror of society, should strive to promote the positive mobilization of cultural diversities for tolerance and reconciliation.

Mr Brentuo, the Regional Manager of the Ghana News Agency, appealed to journalists to acquire skills that would enable them to analyze development plans and policies in order to help remove distortions and imbalances that often tended to fuel ethnic related conflicts. Mr Emmanuel Quaye-Sowah, the Eastern Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education, said there was the need for leaders to serve as role models of discipline, peace and unity. Admitting that there would forever be differences among humans, Mr Quaye-Sowah, called for mutual respect, trust, understanding and co-operation as a way of eliminating deviant behaviour and maintaining some form of social control.

Mr Solomon Fordjour, the Afram Plains District Chief Executive, drew attention to the positive aspects of ethnocentric tendencies and said these virtues could be promoted through marriages. Sheikh Sadiq Adu of the Ahmadiya Muslim Mission at Koforidua said the only tool that could foster national reconciliation and development was to adhere to the word of God.