& Tribalism In Ghana

By Kofi Thompson

When one interacts with the best-educated amongst the younger generation of Ghanaians - a majority of whom are apolitical and simply want to get on in life - what strikes one most, is just how cosmopolitan they are in their attitudes generally.

Clearly, this tech-savvy generation see themselves first and foremost, as Ghanaian citizens. And most in this aspirational group of modern-day Ghanaians, are firm in their belief that in the general scheme of things in our country, no tribe in Ghana is superior or inferior to another.

Not for them the narrow-mindedness and intolerance often displayed by that vocal minority of their peers, who are actively involved in party politics - and, on university campuses across the country, have unfortunately come under the corrupting influence of powerful and ruthless politicians, who have tribal-supremacist world-views.

It is this narrow-minded tribal-supremacist lot amongst the younger generation of Ghanaians that that ghastly and divisive phrase "....one of Ghana's elite tribes" is often heard. How absurd - when virtually all Ghanaians from the ten regions of our country more or less share the same DNA. Pity.

Unfortunately, as a result of the wealth many of our homeland Ghana's most negative politicians have accumulated over the years, from high-level corruption, they also wield a great deal of power and influence over so many amongst the older generation of Ghanaians.

The sentimental attachment that many in this group of older Ghanaians have for the cultural values and traditions of our homeland Ghana's various ethnic groups, is ruthlessly exploited by such tribal-supremacist politicians - for political purposes in their never-ending quest for power.

Naturally, they have close working relationships, in this most unhelpful and unhealthy of enterprises, with their allies amongst our nation's crop of tribal Chieftains, ensconced in palaces across the country - the last bastions of unbridled tribalism in Ghana.

For the sake of Mother Ghana, it is vital that the more responsible sections of the media in Ghana, encourage the younger generation of educated Ghanaians to continue holding on to their cosmopolitanism.

It is upon their slender shoulders that our nation's future as a united, ethnically-diverse and modern African nation-state in the information-age rests.

And as their numbers continue to grow significantly, as a proportion of the total population, our country can confidently march into a future free from the miasma of tribalism - Ghanaian society having been rid at last, by then, of the bigotry and baleful influence of tribal-supremacist politicians.

Simply put, dear reader, there is no future for tribal-supremacist politicians and tribalism in Ghana.

Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com