The Rector of the Kumasi Saint Peter’s Basilica, Monsignor Raphael Owusu-Peprah, has called on the Constitutional Review Committee to factor into its proposals provisions that would ban spouses and descendants of coup makers from participating in the nation’s politics. He explained that such a move would discourage people, who intend seeking any political power through the barrel of the gun, to reconsider their decisions. Monsignor Owusu-Peprah who made the call at a press briefing in Kumasi pointed out that with the current state of the nation’s political dispensation, there was the need for all acts that stood the chance of disturbing the country’s democracy to be discouraged. The Rector said since all coup makers did not come to power on merit, but through the power of the gun, allowing their descendants to contest in the nation’s leadership positions, could create undue advantage for the descendants of such coup makers. He indicated that allowing such descendants could also create a dynasty which would create the platform for them to come and continue all the bad things initiated by their relations as well as create an enabling environment for them to hate and punish people who do not support or vote for them. Monsignor Owusu-Peprah said he had nothing personal against Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings contesting the flagbearership of her party, but the creation of the beginning of the history of dynasty was his problem. The rector explained further that if the issue of dynastic succession began in the country, then the leaders would begin to feed their cronies and punish unduly the ordinary Ghanaian who should also benefit from the national cake. He also talked about the need to take a second look at the indemnity clause in the Constitution which gives an escape route to coup makers who might have inflicted deep pain on millions of law-abiding citizens of the nation. The Rector, therefore, appealed to the Rawlingses to stay away from the nation’s politics and stay back and watch what Ghanaians would do to themselves after they had ruled the nation for about nineteen years. “Issues which disturb me much in the nation is the tolerability of corruption into the nation’s politics, as people are now seeing corruption as any ordinary issue in the country,” he said. “It has now become obvious that the shortest way of making much money in the country is to involve you in politics which is quite unfortunate,” he said and called for something to be done about the situation to change that canker which was gradually eating into the minds of the majority of the people, especially, the youth. The rector said there was the need for institutions in the country such as Commission for Human Right and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to be strengthened to educate and support the development of democracy in the country. Source: Daily Graphic