Ghana Must Have Her Own Model of Democracy but Not Be a Copycat: Read via - www.EweGhana.Net The name Ghana is actually a title that was giv...
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| Ghana Must Have Her Own Model of Democracy but Not Be a Copycat: Read via - www.EweGhana.Net |
He served as the commander in chief of a highly organized army, the controller of all trade activities, and the head administrator of justice. Mayors, civil servants, counselors, and ministers were appointed by the king to assist with administrative duties but at all times, the king was in charge.
This is why our forefathers chose that name Ghana to replace Gold Coast after our independence.
This proves that the ancient Ghanaian people were civilized and had a well-structured governing system before the colonial masters conquered and destroyed our culture or system of Government.
They imposed their way of governing on us but remember, it would be very odd to try to reform American political system according to Confucian (Chinese) values, and it sure will seem very odd to try to reform the Chinese political system according to the values of the American founding fathers.
So why will it ever be okay to reform the Ghanaian political system according to the colonial master’s values? We are of different cultures and environments, but we have been brainwashed to believe that precisely, one person, one vote is the only morally legitimate way of selecting political rulers and it is morally perverse to suggest otherwise. But let’s face the fact, the political system imposed on us has never worked in our beloved country Ghana, and it will never work.
So why isn’t it time to draw upon different political ideas in Ghana’s own culture and institutions? One other problem is the empathic view that nothing good comes out of any African institution or political system but, is implementation the problem here?
Can’t we Ghanaians or Africans as a whole formulate and customize an effective governing system after many decades of failed copycat democracy orchestrated by the colonial masters?The topic is not to depreciate democracy in any country that has diligently implemented it, but with Ghana for example, we need to improve our democracy by drawing on the best meritocratic practices, built on foundation of electoral democracy.
People are voted to power based on status but not merit so the right people with the right brains are not getting to be selected to head the right institutions in the country. This practice leads to building incompetent professional and civil services and that is exactly why we are seeing in Ghana today, mountains of problems from poor education system to bribery and corruption in all the institutions and corporations in the country.
Ghana should convert to implementing meritocratic mechanisms to select and promote political leaders with extraordinary intellectual, social, and moral qualities, and in the process, also limit the power of meritocratically selected leaders.
A country like Singapore is a parliamentary republic in which the People's Action Party (PAP), in power since 1959, overwhelmingly dominates the political scene but the party has incredibly transformed the country over the many years that they have been in power, and they did it by implementation of policies.
Ghana in comparison has two big political parties that cannot implement anything even from the country’s own constitution over the similar years that only one party in Singapore used to industrialize their nation. Ghana should know the qualities that matter for political leaders and select leaders based on those qualities but not just appoint leaders as the NPP/NDC parties have been doing when they come to power.
Political parties in Ghana come to power and they fight to stay in power but not to build the country from its ruins but just to stay in power. Year in and year out, billions of American dollars are being spent on elections here in Ghana but not on infrastructure, education, manufacturing, the medical system, oil and gas, electricity, sewage, transportation, industrialization and many more.
A good Ghanaian cultured political ideal, one not copied from the colonial masters should be shared by government officials, reformers, intellectuals, and the common citizens of Ghana for a better political system and exponential economic growth in our country.
This can also be backed by traditional inspiration because we are a nation of rich traditions. The colonial masters would adamantly resist Ghanaian intellectuals trying to evaluate their system of democracy so why are we embracing something created by the colonial masters with nothing owed to our traditions?
Competitive elected leaders can never perform better than selected leaders through years long performance evaluations and examinations. I guess our leaders don’t want to see a solid system of Government that will permanently eliminate corruption. A good system of government engages in long term planning with the future generations in mind.
Not repeated campaign promises. This is where I suggest that all the good independent candidates campaigning for the presidency in Ghana should come together to form an alliance and start selecting intellectuals and reformers to form a gigantic third force that can never be voted out of office like the PAP in Singapore, and the CCP in China. The leader of this alliance must have superior intelligence in economic understanding, competence, very good social skills, and very high moral standards.
There is empirical evidence in the history of ancient Ghana that shows that our leaders at that time were selected on merit so there is no reason why we cannot follow our traditions. While we embrace the western form of democracy, we must note that those who claim to have freedom to vote have also been deprived of many human rights by deviating far from the original meaning of democracy of by people for the people. Everything from joblessness, high taxes, chaos society, shootings and armed robbery on the streets are all the side effects of the so-called one man one vote democracy which doesn’t owe anything to our rich Ghanaian culture.
The colonial masters imposed-democracy can be a recommendation but not a law for Ghana to abide by. We can as Ghanaians customize an ideal governing system that is a tailored purely made system for Ghana.
The Chinese system of Government works for China, so as the German system works for Germany, as well as the Russian system works for Russia, but none of these mentioned systems can work interchangeably.
Meaning the Russian system will never work in Germany or vice-versa. All these systems of Government work in the various continents because it evolves with technology and society (culture). The U.S.A. has a strong culture.
They believe in unity, so a country filled with guns for civilians have still for decades refrained from civil war, and this is because they have a very strong system of Government with checks and balances based on unity.
Africa has the richest cultures on the planet, but we are forced to copy from the colonial master’s culture. This deviates from our principles, so we should understand why Africa is still suffering after decades of the imposed so-called democracy. Ghana is a victim of such deviation, and our nation should wake up in this generation and restructure to form an ideal system that fits our rich culture.
From the Gold Coast Reformed Alliance’s (G.C.R.A.) far observations, the system of Government of the Americans, the French, the Germans, the Russians, the Chinese, and all advanced countries are a mere extension of the revolutions that happened in those countries over 2000 years ago. They all have a strong sense of identity; culturally, geographically, and historically.
China for example was once the poorest country in the world but they created a unique system to fit the Chinese people and culture. This was made possible by creating a hybrid form of democracy which is by no means a straight copycat of the Western or Eastern world of system, and China is a superpower now. The middle eastern countries have a different culture and so they all have systems of Government tailored to fit their culture, geography, and history, and the same goes to Israel.
So, none of these countries that I have mentioned have copied the exact systems from other continents, but they are all doing well with even fewer natural resources than the African continent. So again, what is Ghana and the African continent missing?
The answer lies in our rich culture and lack of implementation, therefore, there is no other system of Government that can free us from the pits of poverty and incompetency but one that we derive based on our rich culture.My points or quotes in this context are based on the book by Daniel A.
Bell, “Political Meritocracy and the limits of Democracy”. I claim no ownership of any quotes in this context if there is.
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