Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II: We Are in Danger of Misapplying Multiparty System

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II fears of dire consequences if politics continue to take the place of issues affecting nation building.
According to him, the multiparty system is being misapplied in the country giving way petty poltics to dominate discussions, particularly those that take place in the media.
Delivering his address as Special Guest of Honour at the 19th Ghana Journalists Association Awards, Saturday, the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II passionately called on Ghanaians to focus on the ultimate issue of national interest.
He said, it is time people began to pursue “the national interests derived from their common values and above all their vital economic interests” just like other countries in the West have done.
“Who can deny that where those interests are at stake, there is no Conservative or Labour [Britain], no Republican or Democrat [USA], no SDP or FDP [Germany]? There is just the British, the American or the German interests and those interests prevail regardless of who occupies 10 Downing Street or the White House.
“…I suggest to you that we are in danger of misapplying the multiparty system to the detriment of the nation and your initiative provides an appropriate platform to begin the quest for change.
“We should forever bury the supremacy of the party and install and entrench in our minds that the nation is supreme and the national interest overrides everything else. So back to the old question, what constitutes the national interest for us? We may tum to the Derivative Principles of the Constitution for guidance. But from that broad canvas, let us focus on the ultimate issue of national interest, the Asantehene counselled the media.
The Otumfuo also wants the media to critically examine government policies that seek to better the lot of the masses else, they risk misconstruing development to mean “a list of infrastructural projects that can be easily monitored.”
“Development is a product of the policies pursued by our governments. We cannot have sustainable development without sound sustainable economic policies. So we cannot presume to focus attention on development only by monitoring the implementation of projects without coming to grips with the broad policies driving or hindering development.
“It stands to reason that while project monitoring may serve a useful purpose, on its own, it could also be an unintended diversion from the crux of our problem. Therefore, you can do no better than brace yourselves not only for the impartial monitoring of projects but also for the objective analysis and evaluation of public policies affecting the economy”.
Touching on the declining fortunes of the economy as result of the decline in the value of the local currency (Ghana cedi), the Asantehene said: “Because the cedi is so crucial to the stability of the national economy, it is imperative, in my view that we remove it from the realm of partisan politics and place it as an issue of high national interest.”
“This should require us, to strife to insulate the cedi from political and other pressures likely to undermine confidence and reinforce the institutional framework for defending and protecting it in the market place,” he stressed.