Winner takes all not healthy system – US Ambassador
Mr Gene A. Cretz, the outgoing United States Ambassador to Ghana, has called for a modification of the country’s winner takes all sytem currently at play in its political arena.
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According to him, that system or policy was the only blot on Ghana’s otherwise exemplary democratic credentials.
He said that the only ‘not so plus side’ he noticed while on duty was on Ghana’s electoral and political reform front, which he believes must be worked on, for the country’s democracy to continue occupying the spot as the model for the whole African continent.
Modify winner takes all
In a parting press conference at the US Embassy in Accra on Tuesday, he said the winner takes all system as was practised in Ghana, needed some modifications and was not healthy for democracy to thrive in its present state.
“I think that at some point there has to be progress made in not doing away, but modifying the winner takes all system. I think it really impacts on the compromise and the ability of give and take in a democracy,” he said.
Mr Cretz stated that in the USA, it was a give and take system between the Republicans and the Democrats which was the basis of policy, adding, “it is made more difficult when the system is under a winner takes all, because the only incentive of the opposition when they lose is to get back into power and the power which is in power wants to stay in power, and I am not sure that, that is the healthiest combination for a stable and enduring democracy.”
He reiterated that Ghana stood to gain if it was able to get to the next stage of democratic evolution, by finding a way to modify the winner takes all system.
He also expressed optimism that, that could be done, because in separate meetings with former Presidents Jerry John Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufuor, and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, they had all agreed to a modification of the current system.
Mr Cretz further stated that the electoral campaign mechanism needed working on, by singling out the problems encountered in the last election and taking a critical look at them, to prevent the incidence of “charge and counter charge which diminishes the incredible importance and prestige that Ghana shows to the world when it has as election.
“Once you make the necessary changes, this democracy’s stability will be even enhanced than it is now and right now it is a model for Africa, it is a model for the world but that evolution needs to take place.”
Fond memories and high points of duty tour
A lot of fond memories would accompany Mr Cretz, as he leaves the country in few days after a duty tour of almost three years. Incidentally, Ghana would be his official last duty post as a diplomat for the USA and he says he could not have been chosen for a more gratifying duty as he had in Ghana.
He lauded Ghanaians for their hospitality and the leadership for their cooperation with his administration while he served as Ambassador.
Speaking on the high and low points of his duty tour to Ghana, Mr Cretz said his high point was being able to help facilitate the signing of the Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC) in 2014 in Washington.
“We worked very hard with President Mahama and the government to make that signing possible,” he stated.
For his low point, he lamented the spate of bush fires that plagued the country. “It was pretty depressing because nobody knew what was going on or who or what was doing it,” he said, adding that largely it had been a positive experience for him in Ghana.
Mr Cretz stated that what touched him most while on his duty tour was his encounter with a group of Ghanaian female farmers in a village near Tamale, whose fortunes changed with the introduction of better seeds and marketing techniques such that they could produce four to eight times what they did earlier.
Numbering about 100 he said at a meeting with the women, what moved him was their response to a question that they were using the extra money for the tuition of their children. “These are memories that you can’t buy. They are very special,” he said.
Touching on the future of U.S. - Ghana relations, Mr Cretz said, “I can confidently say that my leaving will not impact the state of U.S. – Ghana relations, for they have been solidly built on a foundation of shared values and mutual respect.
It is however not certain who will be or when the next Ambassador will take office, since the process to select and approve a probable replacement is still ongoing.
Writer’s email: edmund.asante@graphic.com.gh