When you examine citizens’ perceptions of our governance architecture as documented by the Afrobarometer survey, you walk away with four key conclusions.
First, there is a low level of trust in key democratic institutions.
Second, which exacerbates the first, is the high perception of institutional corruption.
These first two issues, I have highlighted previously in several of my writings as they present a major challenge to democracy consolidation efforts.
Third is the difficulty in accessing basic public services.
Fourth is the idea that the law does not treat all citizens equally.
Amid all this is our main democracy dilemma – strong support for democracy but high level of dissatisfaction with the way it is working as per the most recent Afrobarometer survey (Round 10, 2024).
Mo Ibrahim
But the Afrobarometer survey is not the only good governance survey or index that has documented well the challenges facing Ghana’s democracy and governance architecture.
The Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance, Democracy Index, World Governance Indicators, Press Freedom Index, among others, give us reason to be concerned and spur us into action.
There is no doubt in my mind that Ghana is badly in need of institutional reform.
The kind of reforms that get the best out of our public institutions and enable us to resolve our basic public problems.
As we tinker with institutional reforms, there are fundamental things that must be part of those efforts if we are to put in place strong and durable institutions.
Our goal must be institutions that support governance architecture that not only delivers but also allows citizens to express positive dispositions about them.
Institutional reforms
It is important to acknowledge the current efforts underway to get us to that good place where our institutions are concerned.
First is the constitution review process. I have followed the regular updates provided to the public via social media of all the engagements across the country to gather the views of citizens as well as key stakeholders.
I believe the intentionality of the process and the involvement of Ghanaians from all walks of life will enable the process to produce recommendations reflective of the pinch points citizens are facing after thirty-plus years of our constitution in operation.
I look forward to an outcome that will help clarify, eliminate and close loopholes so that institutional actors who make the text of the constitution come alive through everyday practices.
Don’t forget, the fundamental framework of our democracy and governance architecture is the constitution.
Let me also acknowledge the Leading Justice initiative which was launched in 2023 by the former chief justice.
The comprehensive nature of that initiative is a solid response to the low perceptions of Ghana’s judiciary and justice delivery system.
While the recent Article 146 proceedings resulted in the removal of the former Chief Justice, it is my hope that the efforts continue.
For me, the success of the initiative will help do something important for the judiciary- improve its public perceptions among citizens.
Think about it.
Only 13 per cent of citizens trust our courts “a lot” (Afrobarometer Round 10, 2024).
The recent Code of Ethics for appointees launched by the President is another important institutional reform step.
The issues covered by the code, hopefully, will inform how appointees act and ensure the highest form of ethical conduct among them.
Again, over 10 rounds of the Afrobarometer survey, the Presidency as an institution has suffered in terms of public perception on the two issues already mentioned – trust and perceptions of corruption.
Resetting antecedents
Over the last few weeks, I have been saying to myself that for our institutional reform efforts to succeed, one thing we must do is to also reset our political antecedents.
What do I mean?
A nation's governance and administrative practices are not born overnight.
They are a series of choices, right or wrong, made repeatedly and over a long period of time that become the general patterns of behaviour we observe today.
In simple terms, what we see today as the fault lines in the way our public officers, elected and unelected, govern the country is the effect of years of governing the country with a particular mindset and using political and administrative power in a particular way.
This means, even with a code of conduct for appointees, constitutional reforms, among others, the results we seek will not happen if there is no change in behaviour.
Yes, institutions shape behaviour, but in our part of the world, we have learned how to bend the will of institutions to serve narrow, selfish interests.
What will our efforts achieve if the way we view and exert power, how we exercise administrative discretion, how public officers behave when citizens demand transparency and accountability do not change?
The writer is the Project Director, Democracy Project
