Communication is life-blood of democracy – Mensah-Bonsu
Professor Henrietta Mensah-Bonsu, Director of Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy, has described communication as the life-blood of every democracy.
She said liberal democracy or ‘rule by the people’ connoted a method of government, which traced its source of power to the will of the people and should also be accountable to the people.
Prof Mensah-Bonsu made the remark when she delivered a paper entitled: “Language that Denigrates, Language that Threatens and the Challenge of Nation Building,” at a media encounter organized by National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) recently.
“It is obvious that the need to maintain openness in the management of public affairs, the responsible exercise of authority and power and the consciousness to seek the interest of the public in all aspects of political decision-making are absolute values in a system that depends upon the popular will.
“This mandates a two-way traffic of information and interaction between the governors and the governed; again democratic governance prescribes that after a specified period of time, the governors must seek the mandate of the people again, while others with opposing views are also given fair opportunity to offer alternative leadership,” she said.
Prof Mensah-Bonsu said as the method of ascertaining the popular will was by an election, which involved the participation of all adult citizens of the polity, ie universal adult suffrage, the process required not only massive education of the population, but also opportunities for answering the all-important question: “Who should the people entrust their destiny to for the specified period of time and why?”
She added: “Here again the need to have the requisite information in order to subject it to informed analyses, is amply demonstrated”.
She said in order to maintain the two-way traffic as well as providing the means for public participation and education in the necessary processes of ‘government by the people’ language that denigrated or language that threatened, ordinarily, had no place within the scheme of things.
“When the circumstances of the polity are made more complex by historical factors, then such language bodes no good to the health of that fragile State.
“Personal attitudes of superiority or denigration of others who are different – either by reason of ethnicity, religion or class – and lack of respect for diversity which are manifested by hate speech, or actions that denigrate a particular group whilst raising another for veneration or respect may produce violent reactions that are inimical to our peaceable co-existence,” the Director stated.
Source: GNA