Results of the 2016 general elections seem to make proponents of the two-party state system in Ghana believe that it has happened. They are all wrong! But it will take some courageous and tenacious visionary leaders from a third party to prove them wrong, mobilise and orientate citizens for national renewal and transformation.
In politics and government, a spoils system (also known as a patronage system), is a practice in which a political party, after winning an election, gives government civil service jobs to its supporters, friends and relatives as a reward for working toward victory, and as an incentive to keep working for the party—Wikipedia.
That is not far from the governance system we operate here in Ghana. In fact it is now entrenched. In the last two regime changes through the ballot box, there were pockets of resistance from public office holders who had been removed from office or asked to proceed on leave (technical unemployment) just because the new administration wanted to replace them with their own party members and sympathisers who helped them to win the elections.
Some of the dismissals were successfully contested in court even though rulings came in late. In some cases the rulings came when the regime that dismissed the official was exiting office. This season however, there seems to be no resistance at all. No threats from the affected officials to resort to the law courts for wrongful dismissal and termination of appointments. Many officials have resigned ahead of being asked to leave. This acquiescence is mind-blowing and should be interrogated to ensure we are not setting the wrong precedent that would undermine professionalism in Ghana’s public service.
The concentration of excessive powers in the hands of one man (the President) is an anomaly that must be dealt with surgically and with a sense of urgency. We all know that the 1992 Constitution was adopted under circumstances in which real freedom did not exist in Ghana and at a time when there was no guarantee of fundamental human rights and freedoms.
For instance, by operation of the provisions of the constitution, the new President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is expected to appoint over 5,000 senior public and civil servants. That requirement is a burden but our presidents have loved it and used it to reward party people, friends and family. In operating this kind of system one cannot help but fall in the trap of putting square pegs in round holes, resulting eventually in unmet expectations and agitations that led to the removal of the previous regime from office.
In a typical case in point, the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is struggling to contain agitations from their members all over the country who have one issue or the other against people shortlisted for appointment by the president to become Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs).
Prior to that, the president had created more ministries and ministerial portfolios to obviously accommodate the huge number of party faithful who must be rewarded with such appointments. The biggest mischief is that majority of these ministers must also be members of Parliament. There is incontrovertible evidence that this feature in the 1992 Constitution undermines the legislature’s ability to serve as a check on the executive as expected. Our Parliament is the executive’s Parliament! The executive has a firm grip over it. Until the constitution is amended to change it, the executive will remain excessively powerful.
All the regime changes that have happened in the fourth republic have been triggered by disappointments and naturally, expectations of change. Change that would stop corruption, prevent wastage of national resources and improve the living conditions of majority of the people who can hardly afford three square meals a day. Majority of the people usually fall for the poetic promises of the largest opposition party and vote for change.
By the beginning of the second term of the new administration however, reality dawns on the poor electorate again that the change promised will not happen. This vicious cycle of “promise and fail” which has characterised our politics and governance, will not change unless the governance structure of the nation is changed through constitutional amendments, to give power to the people.
It is interesting how the people have been so emasculated and brainwashed to vote on ethnocentric, regional, traditional and partisan lines to the neglect of policies that guarantee good open and accountable governance, which come with the benefit of economic transformation and wellbeing of the people.
It is clear that the electorate of Ghana have no idea what “your vote is your power” really means. If they knew, they would not consider the NDC or the NPP as alternative to the other. In fact they will put NDC and NPP in one and the same basket for perpetual banishment from Ghanaian politics and governance, because they simply do not have what it takes to transform Ghana.
So long as the gaps so discussed remain features of the fundamental law of our land, one can only expect little in the progress and development of our country. While it is early days yet in the NPP administration, one can tell from what has gone on so far that, there will be very little difference between the performance of the NDC that lost the elections in 2016 and the NPP that won it.
So long as the difference in performance between NDC and NPP remain slim and the unmet needs of the electorate continue to rise; and the duopoly refuse to undertake fundamental reforms, opportunity for third parties with demonstrated commitment to reforms to form the next government remains real and endless. And this ought to give my comrades in the third parties hope that they will have the chance to govern soonest.
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