Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, also known as, Kwaku Azar has taken on the Ghana Bar Association for their seeming silence on issues of injustice in the country.
Backing a claim by business mogul, Sam Jonah that there’s a return to the culture of silence in the country, Prof Azar noted that institutions that are supposed to speak up on ills in the country have rather resorted to pursuing parochial interests nd only speak up when it’s most convenient to them.
“…..that there is injustice everywhere but the GBA is hardly heard from except occasionally when it opines on the length of women’s dress. That corruption is everywhere but it does not seem to find its way to the Christian Council’s agenda or pulpit.
“That the academy, which is given academic freedom to be the conscience of society, seems to be receding into oblivion in contradistinction to the military days when its members spoke words that penetrated the halls of power.,” he wrote on Facebook.
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Sir Sam Jonah is not saying we are not allowed to talk, or write on social media or have Good Afternoon Ghanafuo, etc. Rather, as I understand his culture of silence, he is saying that what we say or sometimes do not say is purely driven by convenience, parochialism, hypocrisy and lack of conviction.
In consequence, there is a proliferation of media but the media have become conveyor belts of political propaganda, petty gossips, sika gari marketing, etc. That there is injustice everywhere but the GBA is hardly heard from except occasionally when it opines on the length of women’s dress. That corruption is everywhere but it does not seem to find its way to the Christian Council’s agenda or pulpit. That the academy, which is given academic freedom to be the conscience of society, seems to be receding into oblivion in contradistinction to the military days when its members spoke words that penetrated the halls of power.
That the TUC that has played a historical and pivotal role in fighting for better working conditions of workers seems no longer interested in the plight of ordinary workers as they are abused by their employers, including foreign apampam stores. That Nananom seem unable or unwilling to protect our rivers and lands from those who seek to destroy them. That the NUGS, formerly revered by many and feared by the military, now seems to be a historical relic with today’s students less focused on idealism and more focused on finding political godfathers. That those who dare talk risk being mauled by paid attackers or serial callers whose sole function is to distract and to destroy, etc.
Fundamentally then, Sir Jonah seems to be distinguishing between a culture of noise, which focuses on non-issues or kills real issues, and a culture of silence that sweeps real issues under the rug and allows wrong doing to flourish. Under this distinction, the culture of noise and silence can coexist and grow simultaneously. In fact, often times the former is a strategy to activate the latter. So understood, it highlights that democracy is more than “kabi ma me enkabi”. Rather, it is a tool for solving group problems, such as WET, Galamsay, Corruption, road indiscipline, public health scare, etc. Democracy then is “kabi ma me ntie na yentumpon.”Sir Sam is correct! We must acknowledge that the culture of silence is here as a precondition to taming and arresting it.
There is silence when what we say or do not say is driven by the gun. Equally there is silence when what we say or do not say is driven by parochialism, convenience and hypocrisy. There is noise if those who should listen are not listening to those who are talking. And noise is not an antidote for the culture of silence.
#SALL is the cardinal sin of the 8th Parliament. It is Exhibit A of the culture of silence.Da Yie!
