This article was prompted by a comment made by some guy at the forum the day after Ghana qualified for the under 20s world cup finals. This was one day we ought to have put all our differences aside and come together as one people and one nation to celebrate this remarkable achievement. And yet this guy just came right in with tribal comments, which made me really mad. What is wrong with some of us? Why are some of us hell bent on promoting tribalism and hatred? Who cares which tribe is not amongst the national team? The fact is Ghana qualified period. I have difficulty in accepting how any normal reasonable thinking person would result to tribalising football, the game we all love so much.

One of the things that unite us as a nation is our passion and love for football which has been our common denominator. Tribal sentiments therefore should not come in to play at all. If we allow tribal sentiments to permeate our common denominator, then, we are doomed. It is often said that love, sport and music are great bridges to building unity and harmony. It has brought people together from all walks of life to form one big united family. Please let us not allow hatred and tribalism to destroy us.

Some of us are sick and tired of the tribal hatred, Rawlings and Kufuor bashing that has come to dominate the forum. There is not a single week that passes without an article about Rawlings this and Rawlings that. Kufuor this, and Kufuor that enough already and it must stop now.

Is Rawlings corrupt? Hell yes. Is he perfect? Hell no. Has he made some mistakes in the past? Hell yes. Did he use his influence when he was in office to amass wealth? Hell yes. Is Kufuor corrupt? Hell yes. Is he perfect? Hell no. Has he made some mistakes in the past? Hell yes. Did he use his influence when he was in office to amass wealth? Hell yes.

We are all aware of the above so why do we need to be constantly reminded? I say to the crusaders who have made Rawlings and Kufuor bashing their business to think again and give us something new. I have a thing for brainy and beautiful Ghanaian girls. There was this beautiful brainy girl in my class when I was studying for my “A” levels in London. I had developed interest in her and wanted to ask her out. When the opportunity presented it self, the first thing I said to her was, you are so beautiful and brainy. And she said to me why state the obvious. Tell me something I don’t already know, if you want to go out me she told me. The point is it is not necessary to state the obvious. We all know that Rawlings and Kufuor are no angles, and certainly have made mistakes in the past. So why the hell are we constantly trying to find faults to discredit them? Please don‘t get me wrong, I am not suggesting for a moment that we should condone corruption. What I saying is that this witch hunting and fault finding has to stop. They are no longer in office so why waste time and energy on them. We should rather direct out attention to holding the current government to good governance and accountability.

Rawlings and Kufuor days are over, and there is much more to Ghana than Rawlings and Kufuor. We have bigger fish to fry here people. We want to hear about how to improve health care in Ghana. We want to hear about how to prevent teenage pregnancy. We want to read about how to create jobs for our young people. We want to hear about how to provide clean drinking water for every Ghanaian. We want to hear about population and family control. We want to hear about how to improve the living standards for all Ghanaians. Some of us want to hear about how and where to find the ideal woman and be happy. This constant Rawlings, Kufuor, Ewe and Akans thing is so old school, and better left behind where it belongs.

How long are we going to blame and bash Rawlings? How long are we going to blame and bash Kufuor? How long are we going to leave in the past as a nation? How long are we going to an unforgiving nation? To those who have hang ups about Rawlings, Kufuor, Ewes and Akans, I say grow up and get over it already. Let bygones by bygones. Holding on to the past won’t do us any good. I suggest that those who are possessed with the sprite of hatred and tribalism should seek deliverance before they plunge Ghana in to civil war.

I challenge those who are constantly engaged in the Kufuor and Rawlings bashing and the blaming game to look for one good thing Rawlings and Kufuor did for Ghana, and celebrate that, as oppose to constantly looking for what they did wrong in order to bash them.

Waa look, this hatred and tribalism has even been brought to football. How shameful and disgraceful of us.

Komla. The Self Proclaimed Peace Broker.