Politically Motivated Insults 

NEWS COMMENTARY ON POLITICALLY MOTIVATED INSULTS 

In recent weeks the issue of political insults has moved to the fore as the atmosphere heats up for the November elections. Anyone listening to morning radio would come to the conclusion that there are two types of Ghanaians living within the borders of the country.
There are those who like insults and those who do not.
The first group has been hard at work while the second continues to protest with varying degrees of despair. 
Of course, one is referring to politically motivated insults, which is a complicated issue. Outside of politics, Ghanaians are a very respectful bunch. They are trained not to use their left hand to point at people, let alone use their mouths to insult them. In all Ghanaian cultures, there are expressions that precede the use of “bad words” as prior detoxification for bad behaviour. But politics is a bare knuckles kind of game. The question is, since no-one likes insults, why can't everybody agree to stop it? Truth be told, it is not that simple. Getting the “communicators” of the two biggest political parties, NDC and NPP, to be civil to each other on radio is as difficult as putting together a ceasefire in the Syrian conflict. For them, there are only two questions, who started it, and who must stop first! It appears that until there is an answer, the war of bad words would continue. 

The name of the game of politics is power; but power for what? Ideally, the power should be about the people. So, what has that got to with lies, insults and abuse? There are many men and women who are in politics for the public good. Many of them have shown in their personal and “other lives” that they care deeply about people and want to do something about their lives. Unfortunately, the voices of such people have been muted and the ascendancy in the public space belongs to those with a lashing tongue. 

There is no controversy that insults have been part of the culture of politics from the dawn of 
civilisation. In traditional life, insults are seen as a safe mechanism for people to vent their anger and frustration but that mechanism is regulated by firm boundaries of where, when and how. The best known example is the Apour Festival of Techiman in the Brong Ahafo Region and Kpashimor in La and Teshie in Greater Accra, which provide a one-day window to abuse anyone including the royal family. In modern political context, Parliament is the place for such exquisite non-personal insults within the structure of debates and arguments.
The Speaker has the power to distinguish between good and bad insults in the chamber, and has to reject the latter as “un-parliamentary”.  However, political debate appears to have moved away from Parliament to the media, especially radio where one frequently finds MPs from different political parties engaged in the kind of debate that ought to take place in Parliament. Why has political debate moved from Parliament to the media? During the first republic, Radio Ghana used to broadcast a nightly programme known as “Today in Parliament” and MPs needed to impress their constituents.  That word “impress” holds the key to the style of communication we have today. So many political figures have graduated into government from membership of the “communication team” and there is no point being quiet on the sidelines when you need to impress the bosses and the party faithful. This insight around the word “impress” answers a question people ask about political abuse or misbehaviour : does it win votes?  Well, it is not meant to win votes but to impress and galvanize party faithful. It has the same effect as football chants during matches.  Football chants can lead to trouble but often these are short-lived and can be resolved quickly. These days, banning the offending team from playing home games appears to work wonders. Unfortunately, the same sanctions do not apply when the insults and negative political communication pose problems for whole communities and nations. The point is that much as the politicians want to use abuse to motivate their members, they are scoring own goals because political insults discredit the political process and politicians as a whole. There is a considerable body of research on the use of negative political advertising in the US to show that abuse and negative campaign tactics may work in the short term but they are likely to affect public trust in the political process as a whole. 

BY: KWESI GYAN APENTENG, CHAIRMAN OF NMC AND PRESIDENT OF GHANA ASSOCIATION OF WRITERS.