A GNA News Feature by Boakye-Dankwa Boadi

Accra, March 10, GNA - The Pope does no wrong. Otumfuo does no wrong. The President does no wrong. Indeed all these high profile personalities do not make mistakes because they are institutions in themselves.

Their lives are regulated by others and not themselves. Who knows if the President was compelled to be in a suit for the Ghana@50 Parade for security reasons? What if the oracles decreed that on that auspicious occasion the President of the Republic of Ghana should be in a suit in order to confuse the snipers the enemy had deployed to the Parade Grounds?

Let us assume that Gyaase made a mistake in choosing a suit for that occasion. Should that be enough grounds to call for the dismissal of the Sanaahene, who is in charge of ensuring that the President appeared in the right apparel?

Why should journalists continue to harp on this and devote so much time to it? Is it borne out of the passion for the African Personality and the Motherland or they are just out to give a political point to opposition political parties?

Let us face it, President John Agyekum Kufuor's towering personality and elegance at the Parade was not the least diminished, even though quite a number of people, including my dear wife, were surprised to see him in a suit instead of something Ghanaian. As usual, Ghanaians, who are noted for expressing their views freely since the coming into force of the 1992 Constitution, are at it. The airwaves and newspaper pages are awash with comments on this single subject. Let us give them the chance to say all that they want to say. At the end of the day the lesson that would be learnt would go in to inform and enrich subsequent decisions.

Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah said: 93Forward ever! Backward never! So let us look forward and move forward. The Ghana @ 50 Parade is over. Let us put it behind us and look to the future with hope. As President Kufuor has been saying these are exciting moments to be a Ghanaian. Indeed President Kufuor had on many occasions been seen adorned in Ghanaian costume so nobody could say that he does not cherish it.

Let us not put too much currency to this episode and take it to be one of those things that did not go the way we expected. A section of the Ghanaian society had criticised President Kufuor for donning a suit for the Ghana @ 50 Parade instead of the traditional "Kente" cloth.

In response to the criticism he explained that he found it more convenient since he was going to inspect the Parade and spend the whole day meeting people from all over the world.

"I appreciate our tradition and our cultures as much as anybody else but the emphasis at this stage of the development of our nation is to join with the rapidly advancing world."

The suit, he said, was no more Western but international; citing the Japanese and Chinese, who despite their great civilizations, cultures and traditions, these days during their typical celebrations, go out in suits.

President Kufuor noted that the suit had become a uniting factor of humanity and that Ghana should be part of the on-moving world. Long live the new Ghanaian consciousness. Long live Ghana. Long live the African Renaissance. 10 March 07