In the last few days many of you have been discussing the rejection of the proposed November date for the 2016 general elections. I am not interested in how the date could have been changed without a Constitutional Amendment Bill. Of course I know some of you have started arguing that the Electoral Commission can change the date by a Constitutional Instrument.

My concern is how after all the consultations and what Ghanaians said, parliament at the end of everything failed to approve the date. For me, this defeats the call for an all-inclusive approach to governance in this country. The minority leader, Osei-Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, raised concern about the preparedness of the Electoral Commission. The non-release of funds needed to conduct the election is certainly not the way to go. However, did it warrant a rejection of the amendment when majority of Ghanaians had called for the change?

Couldn’t parliament have reached a consensus on the way forward? I know many of you would argue that the Electoral Commission and the Attorney General delayed in starting the processes for the amendment and thus must be blamed. But, how does that answer the question of the will of the people being ignored? How does that deal with how parliament failed many Ghanaians by not reaching a consensus?

Most of the times, there seem to be a disagreement on many issues of national interest. You have always seen the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the main opposition New Patriotic Party disagreeing on major issues. The Finance Minister has just presented a supplementary budget and mid-year review of the economy. As usual, the blame game has begun. The NPP is not the least enthused about the figures presented by the minister while the NDC is in full praise.

This is certainly not the way to build a nation. There can be disagreements but at the end of the day what matters most is the interest of the nation. I believe that whenever we have to take decisions the interest of the nation must reign supreme. Individual parochial partisan interest must be shelved for the development of this country to take Centre stage. So while the EC prepares for the December 7 elections, I believe the time is right to put the nation first.

The time is right to focus on the very things which will enhance the development of this country and not the divisive partisan politics that we are used. Ghana deserves better.

By Winston Amoah

The writer is the host of ‘Sunrise’ which airs Monday to Friday, 5:45am – 10:00am