Dr. Arthur Kobina Kennedy
10 July 2009
opinion
President Obama is coming to visit and we are all very excited about that. According to the White House, one of his reasons is to underline the centrality of democracy to development.
Now, talking about that, there is quite an argument raging amongst the book-long people about the relationship between democracy and development but this is neither the time nor the place to go into it.
As usual, we are all, government and people, scrambling to cover the harsh realities of our existence so that our august visitors will not know too much about our existence-the dirty smelly streets, the endless traffic, the decrepit palaces and buildings that have not been painted for years.
If by this visit, our beloved Ghana is being held up as the torch-bearer of African democracy, what does that say about African democracy? Since our democracy is being extolled, how well are we doing?
A professor once defined democracy as "the madness of the many for the enjoyment of the few".
While I am not that cynical, here are a few questions to help determine how far we have come in our democracy. First, are our elections more transparent, more peaceful and fairer than they were in 1992?
Second, are our democratic institutions stronger than they were a decade ago?
Are our political parties more vibrant, democratic and united than they were a decade ago?
Is our executive more purposeful and effective? Does our Parliament do better oversight than it did in say, 1997? Is the Electoral Commission more respected by our parties and their supporters? Do our courts enjoy our confidence?
Third, does our democracy enjoy the confidence of the people?
Fourth, consistent with our motto "freedom and justice" and the directive principles of state policy, as contained in our constitution, has our democracy delivered development? Let us examine these questions one after the other.
On the nature of our elections, it seems that beginning with the 1992 elections, everyone of our elections have caused concerns with some parties or people except the 2000 elections.
Even that one caused some concerns to some in the NPP who felt we won it "one-touch" but were denied. After 2004, some NDC members went to court and as recently as during the 2008 campaign, they were claiming to all who cared to hear them that that election had not been free and fair.
As for 2008, the very idea that it was free, fair and peaceful does not even deserve to be debated. This is despite the reports of the external observers who saw no evil and heard no evil.
Indeed, the work of Ben Ephson suggests powerfully that we have a lot of work to do to get to elections that will be accepted by all as free fair and peaceful. On whether our democratic institutions are stronger, let us look at the Electoral Commission and our political parties.
Remember that during the 2008 Election campaign, the NDC, which ended up winning the Elections, claimed repeatedly that the Electoral Commission could not be trusted and that it was in cahoots with the ruling NPP to rig the elections. Given those charges that were repeated even on the morning after the Elections, would the NDC have accepted the results if it had lost? Your guess is as good as mine.
On our political parties, their true state is rather precarious. According to the Afro barometer survey, the percentage of people identifying with them has fallen consistently over the years. Currently, both major parties are subject to significant centrifugal forces that are trying to break them into ineffective factions.
The NDC has factions associated with President Rawlings, President Mills and Vice-President John Mahama as well as the formal party leadership. President Rawlings has described the Mills government as "containing mediocrities" and summed up the new President with the sound-bite "EFEE DULL!!"
In response, the President has had to remind the nation in a message that many felt was meant for the former President that "Ghanaians voted for only one President. They did not vote for President number one and President Number two."
From the side, the Vice-President has been sniping diplomatically at the former President. Not to be outdone, the party Chairman, Dr Kwabena Adjei has pointedly told President Mills that he is not going to Australia as Ambassador to bring the NPP kangaroo back home. I am staying right at party headquarters.
On the NPP side, the situation is only a little better. Right after the elections, conspiracy theorists allied to particular factions have been trying to blame opposing factions for our defeat.
Recently, a meeting convened by President Kufuor in his house to foster party unity has unleashed divisive juices. The meeting showed clearly that whatever its electoral strengths may be, the NPP lacks trust and unity, which will be indispensable ingredients to victory in 2012.
And just in case you think this malaise amongst our parties is limited only to the NDC and the NPP, look at the CPP. There are pro and anti-Nduom factions who are almost irreconcilable.
The sad thing is that across all the parties, the differences that exist are over personalities, not deep principles. Can any member of either party tell their members what deep and abiding principles separate Mills from Rawlings or Kufuor from Nana Addo? What koraa does Nana stand for that Alan opposes on principle? As for our courts, from the disqualification of Pianim to the sentencing of chicken-thieves to long terms while letting go the big people who chop our money "nyafu-nyafu" nobody is sure whether to trust them or not.
On whether our democracy has the confidence of the people, we have a clear answer. In 2005, the Afro barometer survey reported that 80% of Ghanaians felt our democracy needed more time to deliver results. In the 2009 survey, only 62% said the same thing. In other words, people are getting impatient with our democracy. On whether democracy has delivered development, my answer is a tepid "yes".
Since our return to democracy, our economy has grown significantly, quadrupling in just the last eight years. In addition, we have reduced poverty significantly while making investments in health and education.
Unfortunately, we have not done a good enough job of making the average Ghanaian the center-piece of our democracy.
How can we make the guy who credits "yoke-gari" believe that our government cares more about him than about the MP and his car-loan?
How can we make the single mother who wakes up her child at 4 in the morning in order to get the child ready for school feel that our government cares as much about her as the senior civil servant who can build in a waterway because of contacts in the right places?
Here are a few things that will move our democracy forward.
First our elections must be fairer, more transparent and more peaceful. To attain this, we must have an electronic register and strengthen the law enforcement functions around elections, by passing laws to ensure better collaboration between the Electoral Commission, our parties and law enforcement agencies.
Second, we must get on with the constitutional reforms that all parties committed to during the 2008 campaign-to reduce the powers of the Presidency, strengthen Parliament and require the Election of District, Metropolitan and Municipal Chief Executives while ending the requirement for the President to pick half of his Ministers from Parliament.
Third, we must bolster the confidence of the people in our democracy by giving them a bigger say in our party primaries and policies. In short, we must reduce the influence of money and increase the influence of the masses in our politics.
And while we are at it, our party leaders must think more of the interest of ordinary party members. As an NPP member told me in Kumasi recently, "Doc, here on the ground, we are united and ready to do whatever it takes to win in 2012. Please tell the people up there, not to let us down again. I promised to deliver his message loud and clear.
Fourth, we need to strengthen accountability mechanisms so that ordinary people will believe that our leaders get into politics to serve and not to be served. Finally, let our leaders develop more urgency about our nation and its priorities. Our people are watching and so is history. Let us not fail our people, the rest of Africa and posterity.
May our democracy grow from real strength to strength.
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