ONE OF the most dangerous games politicians can ever play is to indulge in overt ethnic politics in which they try to pit tribe against tribe for parochial partisan gains.

Especially, in Africa, where as a colonial legacy we have various ethnic groupings that are divided by boundaries drawn up by the colonialists with no regard for the sensibilities of the natives, playing the ethnic card has had very negative implications.

The numerous rebel uprisings and civil wars in most African countries have come about as a result of devious, power hungry and crooked politicians who sought cheap avenues to attain positions of power and influence they did not deserve.

In our own country, Ghana, this problem reared its ugly head during the independence struggle and it is a tribute to the foresight of some true nationalists and the British Colonial Administration that political groupings based on narrow ethnic lines were not recognized as true representatives of the people.

We have followed this principle since we gained independence and as a matter of fact have entrenched it in our Constitution: every political party must have a truly national character cutting across narrow ethnic lines to be recognized by the Electoral Commission and registered as such.

The Chronicle thus finds it sad and disturbing that some politicians, desperate for power, are trying to play the dangerous ethnic game in order to gain votes in the impending parliamentary and presidential elections.

We warn these politicians that facile as it might seem, ethnically-based politics has never succeeded in this country and never will, no matter how hard they try.

The best they can hope for is that for a period, they may succeed in sowing seeds of confusion and even create tensions that might break out into conflicts. But they will not last and can never throw this country into a state of war.

Ghanaians have suffered tremendously over the past few decades; we have also been living witnesses to the turmoil that has spread through the West Africa sub-region. Many of us have traveled and sojourned within the sub-region and thus have first-hand knowledge of such conflicts and the social dislocations they entail. We will not wish them on our country. Indeed, we must all fight to prevent such situations from arising.

For this reason, The Chronicle calls on all citizens to be wary of politicians who like to play the ethnic card. They are selfish and dangerous men who will be the first to seek outside sanctuary when matters get out of hand as a result of their tunnel vision, vis-à-vis their tribal-based politicking.

We have too much to work for in our determination to be a middle-income earning country to waste time and precious human and material resources on ethnic conflicts. Ghana can potentially be like the Asian tiger nations if we concentrate on the things that UNITE us rather than those that set us apart.

The Almighty God has blessed us with many things: gold, diamonds, cocoa, manganese, iron, lime, bauxite and, above all, abundant water!

He has also given us people of great intellectual capacities, from inventors to artisans and farmers with green fingers! We must strive hard to bring all these great gifts and qualities together to fashion out a strong nation rich in its diversity and cultural plurality.

Ghana must remain the bastion and sanctuary of peace and prosperity in the sub-region. We must push on, no matter how difficult the road might be, to cultivate the spirit of tolerance in which democracy can succeed. This is a duty we must perform with single-minded perseverance.

To those politicians who would wish to play the divide and rule game, we say shame unto them. They will not succeed and Ghanaians will live to see their demise.