National affairs and economic development analyst Shepherd Ali says Ghana’s political discourse is increasingly turning into a competition over who can deliver the harshest insults rather than who can offer the most useful ideas.
He says the trend is weakening the quality of public debate and risks creating a culture where abusive commentary attracts more attention than knowledge and constructive arguments.
“It is becoming, it’s becoming so bad that now people are not competing for knowledge. People are competing for those who can insult more,” Mr Ali said.
Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Afternoon Ghana on Friday, September 4, he said political discussions should give citizens an opportunity to understand national issues and consider different perspectives.
According to him, Ghana’s democratic system allows people to disagree strongly, but that disagreement should be based on arguments rather than personal attacks.
“In Europe, there is debate, hot debate. But people use that platform to lay down their argument. They educate their audience. They let people who don’t even share the same view as them to gradually sway to their side,” he said.
Mr Ali believes Ghana is gradually losing that focus as political conversations become increasingly dominated by insults.
“But we are now taking our space, and changing it into a wrestlemania of insult. And when we say democracy, it’s not demo insult. It is not demo insult. It is the ability to lay down your opinion,” he said.
Feeding on the insult
Mr Ali said the problem is not only with those who make the offensive comments, but also with the attention and audience such commentary receives.
He argued that the public should pay greater attention to discussions that provide information and education instead of rewarding people simply because they are willing to insult others.
“We need to listen. Those educations from other political parties, we need to listen. But we are now feeding on the insult which is not helping us which over time can create a very chaotic situation,” he said.
He warned that normalising insults could have consequences beyond political discussions, particularly if citizens become accustomed to increasingly aggressive forms of public communication.
“And this is what is now going to be a stumbling block for our democracy,” he said.
Mr Ali also questioned the effect the trend could have on young people who are growing up exposed to political insults on social media and in the media.
He wants public figures, religious leaders and ordinary citizens to help change the tone of political discussions and show younger generations that disagreement does not have to become abuse.
“Let it be a discussion so that we all get our young ones who are coming up there not to appreciate this insult,” he said.
Mr Ali has since launched a campaign against political insults, including a solo walk from Kasoa to Winneba, as he seeks to encourage Ghanaians to reject abusive political discourse.
“I want everybody to come on board to understand that we can politics, we can share opinions, we can argue on points, we can, we can bring out anything that we think we want another person to understand without insulting,” he said.
