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 common 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 and the continuous rise of private money, the government should not be in the business of subsidies, large-scale employment, and the building of 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 the phenomena in the 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 Danquah Akuffo 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 their interest by aligning with cold warmongers to overthrow the country’s first promising president, Ghana has been locked in a perpetual musical chair, rotating incompetence 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.’ But greed betrayed that agenda, rendering the continent into the unrelenting grips of poverty, disease, conflicts, 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 interest and that 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 undertaken. The astronomical cost of competing in elections makes it practically impossible for elected officials to serve the interests of the electorates. Before a politician makes it into office, he is riddled with debt and favors to return.
We have a system that makes politicians buy votes rather than earning them. This is because we have failed to conscientize the catenary to debate and vote on issues. A situation that has been perpetuated by the same politicians. 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 is set up, politics, and for that matter, governance in our part of the world, is not organizing to gain power in order to push an agenda of collective progress but an avenue of imperialist control and wealth accumulation for those lucky enough to be part of the scheme.
We don’t have a very sophisticated citizenry who 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 get a custom meal that will suit our palates.
The mere absence of coups and so-called dictatorships aren’t signs of progress. Neither do seasonal elections signify continuity and stability.
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I met Ali in high school, and he played for the school team. Now, as a trained teacher, he is focused on introducing and teaching the game of basketball to children of diverse backgrounds and instilling in them a sense of responsibility, discipline, and the culture of nature conservation.
As the Communications Officer for one of the oldest, if not the oldest, Bilateral Trade Associations in Ghana, I gained significant exposure.
This sector has been the engine of growth and has sustained this country through its turbulent years.
At independence Ghana held a beacon, signalling that the continent was fully aware and ready to seize its destiny for progress and self-actualization. We’ve built America and financed Europe out of poverty; we are now poised to reclaim Africa and restore dignity to take a seat at the table.
We have generated an obscene amount of wealth which means we now work more than we ever had to but at the same time, more of us sink further into poverty.