Prof. Agyeman-Duah underscores need to re-evaluate democratic practices

A Governance Analyst, Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah, has underscored the need to re-evaluate how the country practices its democracy with a focus on its culture, history and tradition.

That, he said, would help make democracy responsive to the needs of the people and foster national development.

“We need to seriously consider our democratic practice to make it more responsive to the voice of the citizens, without it the voice of the people will be irrelevant.

"We must consider a form of governance that fits our unique cultural and historical context," he said, while underscoring the need for a democracy that truly reflects the voice of the people.

Prof. Agyeman-Duah, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the John Agyekum Kufuor Foundation, was speaking at a two-day annual conference organised by the Ghana Chapter of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists last Friday in Accra.

The conference, which was chaired by  a Business Development Consultant, Daniel Dugan, was on the theme, “The voice of the people: elections for a more responsive government”.

The former governance advisor at the United Nations drew comparisons between Ghana's centralised political system and the United States' more distributed approach.

Specifically, he said while President Donald Trump might wield considerable influence in the US, the structural checks and balances inherent in that system limited the extent of presidential power.

In contrast, he argued that Ghana's centralised system granted the president significant authority over state institutions, leading to a “winner-takes-all” mentality in politics, adding, “Over here, once you become a President, automatically you have over 6,000 appointments to make by your pen”.

This model, he asserted, fostered exclusivity and could undermine the common good of the people, shifting focus away from essential values such as peaceful coexistence, security and overall well-being.

"The majoritarian system we have in place is confrontational and adversarial.

“It leaves little room for compromise and consensus-building, promoting parochialism,” Prof. Agyeman-Duah said.

Even local governance system but they are weak because the president appointed the MCE and anybody going there does the president’s bidding”. 

Decentralisation

The CEO emphasised the importance of decentralisation as a potential remedy for the current political stagnation.

“When you create top-button kind of democracy you insulate people from governance and that is why anytime you leave Accra, there seem to be nothing.  Political parties don’t even care once they win elections.

“Some chiefs ask for toilet and they’re not even ashamed because the system has created this notion that everything mist come from government. We have created a serious dependency relation with government,” he added.

He, therefore, stressed the importance of empowering local governance to reduce dependency on the central government.

He also urged social scientists—sociologists, historians and psychologists—to contribute to a national dialogue about redefining democracy in Ghana. 

Coup

Prof Agyeman-Duah called on the public to use advocacy to hold leaders accountable, adding that they could express their dissatisfaction through the electoral process rather than resorting to violence or coups.

We have chosen democracy for ourselves and in a democratic society, all we have to do is to advocate to ensure the changes we have to see in our society.

“Where you are not happy, exercise patience and demonstrate by voting that government out during elections because that is the prescription for change in a democratic society.

“If politicians are not responsive, we can’t call for coup because the soldiers don’t have any appetite for coup anymore because in the last coup senior officers were made to salute sergeants, they don’t want to do that again,” he added. 

Conference

The President of the Ghana Social Scientists Society, Rev. Fr Dr Peter Rocky Hesse, explained that the society sought to bring together public social scientists to examine political, social and economic realities using empirical data, the church’s teachings and natural law.

The conference, he said, was aimed at reshaping minds and orient participants towards the wellbeing of the country towards the December 7 elections.

“The conference is an opportunity for open and constructive dialogue, sharing experiences and working towards a more responsive and accountable government,” he said.