Here we go again. Now, let the promises begin.
Government, for that matter, governance, is not a bonanza. It is said that all theories on the subject hold a familiar premise: governments provide baseline stability and allow for a complex organization. Notable are ‘baseline stability’ and ‘allowance for a complex organization.’
In our current fast-moving and ever-changing world, with the continuous rise of private money, the government should not be in the business of providing subsidies, engaging in large-scale employment, or building household toilets. It is primitive and counterproductive.
It is repetitive to state that the bane of Africa is leadership, and I have espoused several reasons for this phenomenon in past editions of this African Development Conundrum series. This time, we will focus on governance, emphasizing the political system and practices that form this government.
After observing the periods leading to the 2016 elections in Ghana and the subsequent results, I wrote an article (that I now consider to be a bit naive, though still relevant) titled ‘When Trivia Thrives Over Issues.’ What we practice is politricks and treats. Bait benighted electorates with short-term wants to win political power to achieve an overarching goal of self-aggrandizement and share thievery.
Gearing up for his first-ever victory in 2016, the current president of the country, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, had solutions to all our primitive challenges. His incompetent ‘mate,’ who is now a self-professed born-again visionary and a flagbearer, was the Michael Buffer for what is now evidently the most kleptocratic government in the history of Ghana.
In Ghana, ever since the NLC, which has metamorphosed into the NPP, succeeded in achieving its interests by aligning with cold war warmongers to overthrow the country’s first promising president, Ghana has been locked in a perpetual cycle of incompetence, rotating through coups or supposed elections. This is not any different across the continent.
Politics in Africa before independence was nationalistic. It was a movement to liberate the continent, seize its destiny, and make it an equal in the ‘league of nations.’ However, greed betrayed that agenda, rendering the continent vulnerable to the unrelenting grip of poverty, disease, conflict, and unsustainable debt.
Politics now is an issue of self-interest. People are willing to jeopardize the well-being of an entire nation to satisfy their interests and those of their benefactors.
Political parties in this part of the world don’t run on ideologies. They may deceive themselves and other mindless persons with half-thought-through statements, but the fuel that runs most of these political parties is money and influence. Whoever has the cheddar calls the shot, and the party operates with their principles until the press stops.
Multi-party democracy is an expensive undertaking. The astronomical cost of competing in elections makes it practically impossible for elected officials to serve the interests of the electorate. Before a politician enters office, they are often riddled with debt and favors to repay.
We have a system that encourages politicians to buy votes rather than earn them. This is because we have failed to conscientize the catenary to debate and vote on issues. A situation that the same politicians have perpetuated. After all, it protects their interests. Keep them dumb, and they can’t hold you accountable. And this adds to the cost.
People are quick to water down these challenges by reducing them to their flawed concept of democracy. So long as you hold the seasonal soiree of fuckery in the name of elections, then you are a progressing nation. Any other issue becomes secondary and a non-factor.
As it stands, politics, and for that matter, governance in our part of the world, is not organized to gain power to push an agenda of collective progress, but rather an avenue of imperialist control and wealth accumulation for those fortunate enough to be part of the scheme.
We don’t have a very sophisticated citizenry that can debate and decide based on issues, and this is not to play into the stereotype or assume that those in the so-called developed world have a broad base of ‘intelligent people.’ But we have a peculiar challenge, and we can’t rely on the hot toast being stuffed in our hands. We must sit down, plan, and create a custom meal that suits our palates.
The mere absence of coups and so-called dictatorships isn’t a sign of progress. Neither do seasonal elections signify continuity and stability.
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Why would a leader of this nation lack the will to stop what clearly has become an existential threat? Well, the simple answer is greed. They can construct impeccable English and cite several excuses as the hindrance, but the real Teflon is greed.
Our world has come a long way, and we, the people, must learn to change our thinking so we can realize our full potential as a race by coming together and working to fight common hindrances like poverty and disease.
The quality of a nation’s output is greatly determined by the quality of its education.
It must not be lost on anyone that the fight for Africa’s sovereignty won’t be a pretty one. We won’t achieve anything with speeches in front of marble walls in a hall filled with careless people.
The car you drive in Formula One makes a great difference, even though this fact usually has different interpretations depending on the subject.