Dysfunctional Executive Oversight and Accountability in Ghana (4)

Valentin Kwasi Mensah, PhD and Alexis Tocqueville Opinion Jun - 18 - 2021 , 11:32

Power Distance (PD) applies to the fundamental problem of human inequality and the translation of biological differences in strengths and talents into social difference in power (Hofstede, 1983).

Power Distance correlated with Gregg and Banks (1965) analysis of political systems. It suggests that a society’s level of inequality is endorsed by followers as much as by leaders. Power and inequality, of course, are extremely fundamental facts of society. Pearson correlations showed that Power Distance is significantly and negatively related with political participation (r (42) = −.57, p ≤ .00

With scores of 35, 38, and 40 the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States of America respectively occupy the lower rankings of power distance index. This indicates that they are societies where people expect relatively equitable distribution of power and believe that inequalities amongst people should be minimized.

This points to the origination and development of democracy in the UK and the US as the quality of a democratic system depends on the system’s ability to promote equality and protect freedoms. In these nations, corruption is rare and when scandals involving office holders are discovered they frequently end political careers.

This may explain why even though Article 35(8) of the 1992 Constitution enjoins “to take steps to eradicate corrupt practices and the abuse of power” not much has been done so far to eradicate the “cancer of corruption.”

By contrast, high power distance cultures expect and accept greater inequalities of power and a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place, power is usually based on tradition and power holders are entitled privileges. Older people are both respected and feared, and parents teach children obedience (Hofstede, 2005).

With scores of 80, both Ghana and Nigeria are high power distance cultures meaning that their people expect and accept greater inequalities of power and a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place, and which needs no further justification. In Ghana, a person in authority “is considered to be sacred” (Sarpong, 1974).

Other people are potential threat to one’s power and can rarely be trusted (Hofstede, 2005). Due to the high the respect for authority and corresponding fewer checks and balances on the use of power, corruption scandals are frequent are they are mostly covered.

In a replication of Hofstede’s study in Ghana, using regional level factor analysis from survey responses of matched customs officials, the derived factor of PDI correlated significantly with ‘confidence in the chieftaincy institution’ (r=72, p ≤ .00), ‘relationship with employer’ (r=74, p ≤ .00), and ‘people are born with unchangeable destiny given by God’ (r=80, p ≤ .00) (Mensah, 2008).

This study confirms the relevance and application of Hofstede’s Power Distance dimension to Ghanaian situation of concentration of powers.

During a recent personality profile interview on Joy FM, the Chairman of the Committee of Experts that drafted the proposals for the 1992 Constitution, Professor Nana S K B Asante, revealed that there were suggestions made in the draft Constitution which could have imposed some limitations on excessive presidential powers, however, the checks and balances were removed when the proposals went to the Constituent Assembly.

Interestingly, since 1993 when the 1992 Constitution was promulgated, most politicians have criticised the system when they are not in power (members of the opposition) but they quickly forget about the problems as soon as they come to power and begin to enjoy the trappings of the ‘winner takes all’ system. Bishop Samuel Mensah aptly observes absolute power vested in winning party is stifling development and that the current duopoly of NPP and NDC and winner takes all syndrome which had over the years affected quality of leadership. (Ghanaian Times, 2 June 2021).

Individualism/Collectivism

This dimension addresses the fundamental degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members. High Individualism “stands for a society in which the ties between individuals are loose and one is expected to look after one’s family only”.

With scores of 89, 90 and 91, the UK, Australia and the US occupy the extreme end of the Individualism scale, indicating that they are highly individualistic and private people. Their children are taught from an early age to think for themselves and to find out what their unique purpose in life is and how they uniquely can contribute to society. Personal opinions are expected, and they practice one person one vote.

On the opposite side of the scale (low individualism) is Collectivism which “stands for a society in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, which throughout people’s lifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty” (Hofstede, 2001) and other in-groups are invariably opposed.

The replication of Hofstede’s study in Ghana confirmed the collectivistic culture in Ghana, the dimension correlated significantly with the statement “hard work does not generally bring success, it is more of luck and connections” (r=0.75, p ≤ .00) (Mensah, 2008).

On this dimension, Ghana occupies the lower end with a score of 15 indicating a collectivistic and low individualistic culture. The concern would be for the group rather than for the individual, and people define their identity by their relationship to others through group membership and strive for a sense of belonging (Schneider and Barsoux, 2003).

In a collectivist culture, the individual or in this case a parliamentarian will invariably act according to the interest of the in-group, the political party or the government. Consequently, the parliamentarian’s commitment to the interest of the constituency or oversight would be superseded by that of the political party or the government.

As an experienced parliamentarian and minister, Mr Kan-Dapaah, beautifully observes, [t]he interests of political parties are deemed more important than the interests of the nation state, Ghana.

The principal cause of this is the culture of exclusion and non-participation” and consequently, “Parliament is unable to check the President because the majority of Parliamentarians belong to his party.”

There is also a wide belief in group decisions and value standards differ for those who belong to groups. In political systems, opinions and votes are likely predetermined by in-group.

This translates in ‘group thinking behaviours like ‘minority walk outs’ or ‘majority approval of policies’ in Parliament. Currently, there is general Ghanaian public impression that Parliament does not effectively carry out its important oversight role but rather engages in ‘rubber stamping’ of ministerial appointments, budgets, and bills submitted by the executive. In August 2020 Parliament approved the Agyapa Mineral Royalty Limited agreement with the government of Ghana despite a walkout by the Minority and public outcry.

Uncertainty Avoidance

The dimension of Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) reflects “the extent to which members of a culture feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situations” (Hofstede, 2001).

High Uncertainty Avoidance cultures try to minimise the possibility of such situations by adhering to strict laws and rules for safety and security measures, and on the philosophical and religious level, a belief in absolute Truth.

There is high intolerance of deviant persons and ideas as what is different is considered dangerous.

The UK’s low score of 35 on Uncertainty Avoidance indicates that the British are comfortable in ambiguous situations. There are generally not too many rules in British society, but those that are there are religiously adhered.

Ghana scores 65 on the Uncertainty Avoidance dimension indicating that Ghanaians generally like to maintain rigid codes of belief and behaviour and are intolerant of unorthodox behaviour, and innovation may be resisted.

There is a great concern for security in life and a search for absolute truth and values that reflect high religiosity. Even though mostly unobeyed, there is high emotional need for rules and regulations which are hardly amended to reflect the changing needs society.

For instance, despite several calls for amendments to the 1992 culminating in the work of a Constitutional Review Committee, Ghana’s Constitution has not benefitted from significant amendments since its enactment.

Significantly, Ghana’s Criminal Code was enacted in 1960 and has not also seen a lot of amendments since to capture new crimes emanating from the changing world. This reflects in low enforcement of the many rules and laws in Ghana as most of the laws would not be in tune with the changing needs of the society. Moreover, in politics, the citizens feel and are seen as incompetent towards authorities.

The correlation of the dimension with the following statements and demographics in a survey conducted in Ghana by the writer (Mensah, 2008) produced the following results which confirm the relevance of the dimension in Ghana: religious affiliation (r=0.82**, p ≤ .00)

This is the final part of the article by Valentin Kwasi Mensah, PhD and Alexis Tocqueville. The third article was published in the Daily Graphic yesterday.