Ghana has just celebrated its 25th Anniversary of continued Parliamentary democratic governance through the ballot box using the principles of universal adult suffrage. The challenges and disagreements notwithstanding, the other arms of government, the Judiciary and the Executive have all done well, improving year after year. The Fourth Estate of the realm, which I happen to be part of, has stood its grounds since 1993 to date even though just like any other human institution, there is still more room for improvement.
We are truly a democratic nation, unlike some countries which abhor divergent opinion and clamp down on freedom of speech thereby putting a padlock on the mouth of conscience and allowing ideas to die in vaults of silence. In some so-called democracies, conscience becomes a scarce commodity sold only to those who kiss the asses of criminals and murderers parading as democrats. That is why we have countries like ‘Democratic’ Republic of Congo, ‘Democratic’ Republic of North Korea etc.
Even though predominantly, democratic nations are based on the principles of rule of law, transparency, accountability and respect for human rights have developed tremendously through the building of strong institutions and structures which defy the dictates and repugnant desires of ‘strong’ men, other seemingly authoritarian regimes elsewhere in the world have catapulted their nations to progress and development over the last 50 years.
Today, the Singapores and the Malaysias which were not found in the main stream ‘democratic’ nations of the Westminster or the Executive Presidential types, are countries where the standard of living of the citizenry are high. Over the last 25 years, China, a Communist country where freedoms and human rights have been considered nonexistent by countries outside of it, is today the biggest threat to the otherwise super power nations of the west, economically and militarily. Just about a week ago, the governing political party’s highest decision making body has declared the President, President for life.
The few examples I have made above give an indication that a nation’s progress in terms of meeting the needs of its people and putting in place the needed infrastructure which will further enhance the development of generations unborn does not primarily depend on the type of governance systems that are practiced. It is the vision of the leadership and the desire of the citizens themselves to work within set rules and regulations to improve themselves as individuals which enhance their individual lives and thereby develop their country.
As we keep celebrating our performance in the area of governance, particularly under the Fourth Republic, it is important for us as a nation to also look back and ask ourselves why we are where we are today. As a nation, we have had so many firsts as far as Africa south of the Sahara is concerned, in the continent’s political arena, in sports, in international diplomacy, in social and economic policies as well as the proverbial Ghanaian hospitality, but have those firsts pushed us to the levels every decent society aspires to be?
In our internal political systems, we have operated the authoritarian system of government before, where did it get us to? While other leaders in other nations operating a similar system united the people and built a universal mindset towards national objectives, by the time we got rid of authoritarianism, our nation was divided. Military dictators have thrice intervened in our democratic process; they sent us back by first destroying our historical and democratic institutions. In other jurisdictions, where military dictatorship reigned, some discipline reigned and that helped those countries move a notch higher socially and economically.
What were the causative factors in the fall of the first, second and third Republics? Have those negative attitudes and attributes which attracted the military, unjustifiable though, into our body politics and governance system changed? Is the survival of the fourth Republic a result of fundamental changes in our way of life, thinking and desire to do things differently? In my view, the survival of the fourth Republic has more to do with external forces than our own desire to operate a democratic system of government.
The very reasons the previous military usurpers had used to abort the democratic processes in the first, second and third Republics still prevail under the fourth Republic. Primarily, corruption has ran through every government in this country including those who used it as a reason to overthrow other regimes. The sad situation is that once we mention corruption, all eyes are directed towards the politicians. One of this nation’s respected men of God once said that if anyone heard shouts of wrong doing in our society, we should not look through the windows to find out who is the culprit but we should look into the mirror to find out if we are not part of that wrong doing.
The reality confronting us today is that we are all engulfed in one form of corruption or the other in our day to day activities. We are either stealing blatantly to support our lifestyle or stealing to survive. We are cheating to be ahead of others or dishonestly taking to get us afloat in this crowded path of self-imposed materially competitive life. Yes, politicians will take the blame because their own lifestyles change tremendously as soon as they get power even though many of them end up very poor four years out of office. It is also the politician who is clothed with powers of state to clamp down on such acts of social and economic aberrations and therefore cannot escape blame if the moral fibre of society is decadent. When the fish decays, it begins from the head, so say our elders.
The poor, particularly the urban poor are also doing their best to cheat to make a living. Try buying an item in ‘traffic’ while driving and compare the price given you later on with a similar item in a shop. Our reality is that we are all engulfed in one act of corruption and dishonesty or the other. In their bid to survive, the poor is destroying everything nature has endowed us with. They are either used as tools by some greedy criminals or they do that on their own without knowing the repercussions of their actions into the future. Most of their actions escalate poverty into the future on installment basis. Yes, there is no society that is perfect, but ours have become a way of life rather than a deviation.
The youth in whose hands the future rests, are not helping themselves that much. I do not know whether their actions and inactions are anchored on frustrations, hopelessness or a desire to join the bandwagon of growing indiscipline among the adults. Our country is bleeding today. Impunity has taken every facet of our society. Filth has engulfed all of us because of our habits and outmoded mindsets. We still think that we have a right to litter our environments and expect that some people have a duty to clean our mess without paying for it.
Officialdom’s reactionary attitude towards problems help aggravate what could otherwise be a minor issue. I had the opportunity to caution just a few weeks ago that after the hot sun, will come the rains and that we should think of de-silting all choked and silted drains in our communities, that structures in water courses must be removed before the rains set in. Not much has been done yet. We are waiting for the rains to come, flood the streets and homes, wreck havoc on lives and property, then we carry cameras to the scene and make promises of dealing decisively on the matters. They never happen anyway. The following year, the reports are not different.
The culprits are not punished, the negligent officials maintain their jobs as usual. May be this time around, the US army will help us rescue the drowning when there is flood, but not in the stinking, dirty, filthy solid material infested flowing waters, no I am not sure.
Our real circumstances are that we have become lawless and act with gross impunity in most of the things we do as if we are in a jungle and we get away with them.
Daavi, my three tots ojare.
From Kwesi Biney