Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, Eastern Regional Minister, says the nation had done well in honouring traditional chiefs and heroes, but asked why the same respect could not be extended to political and social leaders?
"The practice of using the airwaves of FM. Stations to openly lambaste, sometimes wrongly our
political leaders including the President is simply unacceptable in our Ghanaian Culture".
Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said this at the regional celebration of the Senior Citizens Day in Koforidua, on Thursday.
July 1, is celebrated in Ghana every year as a national holiday, to mark the day the country became a Republic.
However, former President John Jerry Rawlings, during his tenure of office found it prudent to use the day to also recognize senior citizens, and to let them know that the
nation has always appreciated their contributions to development programmes and projects in all sectors of the economy.
Mr Ofosu-Ampofo observed that several monuments had been built in honour of chiefs in various communities, but at the national and local levels, it was pathetic that not much had been done to honour many of the country's political heroes.
He expressed regret that Ghanaians has honour foreign nationals at the expense of their national and local heroes.
"Some major streets in Accra have been named after foreigners yet heroes like Dr Hilla Liman, Alex Quayson Sackey, Paa Grant and other citizens who contributed greatly to the political development of the country have nothing to their credit".
Mr Ofosu-Ampofo suggested that a good number of streets should be named after national and
local heroes in the forth-coming nation wide street naming exercise.
He has therefore appealed to municipal and district chief executives to give that request a serious consideration when the programme starts in the various municipalities and district capitals.
"With this humble start, we will be able to rekindle the spirit of patriotism in people, and further motivate them to contribute their quota to the development of mother Ghana".
Mr Ofosu-Ampofo appealed to the retired officers to continue to contribute in their communities by helping clinics, libraries and schools, to function efficiently.
He also challenged them to help streamline social and developmental issues in their communities since they have the brains, the expertise, and the experience to turn things
around and achieve expected results.
The senior citizens were later presented with various awards and certificates.