Accra, March 14, GNA - Encouragement of ethnic sentiments within the national fabric poses a major security conundrum, which must be resolved on a non-partisan platform, Mr Kofi Bentum Quanston, a Security Analyst stated in Accra on Wednesday.

"Politicisation of ethnic persuasions for the attainment of political party gains at the expense of national cohesion is the greatest danger Ghana faces as we embark on the journey for the next 50 years," Mr Quanston who was contributing to think-tank discussion on: "Ghana @50: Tribe or Nation?, said.

The discussion dubbed: "Ghana Speaks," was organised by Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG) in collaboration with Multi-Media Broadcasting.

He said appointment to political office based on ethnic leaning under the fourth republic is a bane to the democratic development of the nation as the replicating situation was 93like a time bomb ready to detonate in our face."

He urged politicians to stop using political power as a means to rewarding family members, close associates, tribal groupings and other class groups.

Speaking on the theme; "Ghana @50: Tribe or Nation? Professor Kwame Ninsin, IDEG Scholar in Residence described the current explosion of tribal sentiments as an expression of how the ordinary people were searching for alternative meaning to get more in life.

He noted that the elite, especially politicians, on the other hand, were exploiting the return to tribal political groupings to win political power and serve mainly their personal purposes. To stem the crises and rebuild national solidarity, Prof Ninsin who was the former Head of the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana suggested the strengthening of the state through strategic class alliance to mobilise domestic and international resource to meet the welfare needs of the people.

He also suggested the pursuit of a dynamic development strategy on the principles of true democracy, stressing, "in this globalized era, the developmental state will achieve meaningful results only within the framework of an integrated political and economic unit." Prof Ninsin explained that after the attainment of political independence in 1957, the Government of Convention People's Party (CPP) attempted to use state power to consolidate the new sense of national identity as well as sovereignty through the development of policies aimed at giving Ghanaians access to basic welfare services. The Government also adopted strategies that projected the status of the Ghanaian and the new nation-state, which was aborted by the 1966 coup d'etat.

He said the military regime introduced policies that reduced the power, capacity and size of the state and its involvement in the economy and society, which plunged the national economy into deeper crisis. In those circumstances of crisis, the state gradually abandoned its responsibility to provide for the welfare of the people; and citizens lost access to a wide range of citizenship rights. Dr Emmanuel Akwatey, Executive Director of IDEG explained that the lecture was aimed at putting the current state of Ghana and its challenges into perspective for greater public understanding and involvement.

It would also offer the public an opportunity to frankly debate the public policy issues and contribute to their effective resolution. Politicians, journalists, civil society activists, Members of Parliament, traditional rulers and a cross section of society attended the Programme.