Federalism: Not In The Fifties; And Not Now, But.....

We Can, Rather, Devolve More Powers To Local People Within A Unitary System. That Assures Safety, While Satisfying Local Aspirations At The Same Time. We Kill Two Birds With One Stone. Better!

By: Otchere Darko

The recent radio debate on adoption of a republican system of government by Ghana is both fascinating and controversial. Fascinating, because it is contemporary; controversial, because it could not have come at a worse time...... a time when Ghana seems divided and needs unity. It is a debate this country has had before. Of course, that previous debate was not by us, but by our predecessors. Strangely, that was also a period when the country was “divided”. It is as if this debate is either a prognosis of, or a prescription for the disease of “national disintegration”. Either way, as part of the debate, it is important always that Ghana’s long term national unity be seen as a fundamental consideration that should NEVER be allowed to be swallowed up by any of the factors that are driving the argument for federalism, no matter how crucial the latter are.

Federalism has its numerous benefits. It is not the intention of this article to deny this fact. The multifarious nature of the structure of Ghana’s traditional system is one of the driving forces. We continue to use English as our number one, and official language, fifty three years after independence. That should not have been so with Kwame Nkrumah’s “Africanised Ghana” that sought to reject everything “foreign”, in preference to things “African”; nor JB Danquah’s dream of a “traditionalised Ghana”, within which Ghanaian traditions and culture were supreme. We are still using English because of the numerous local languages, out of which choosing one over others is not easy. If we had a federal system, at least, the different units of the federation could choose and use their own local languages within their areas of administration. Federalism would also make it possible for each community to develop independently, and in accordance with local aspiration and motivation. It will, in fact, lead to a more even spread of economic development in the country, instead of the current concentration of development in few areas. Federalism has advantages; but it also has problems, one of which is its tendency to encourage the placement of local interests above national interests, with its consequent possibility of generating centrifugal sentiments that sometimes risk developing into civil war. We cannot use regional administrative areas to form the basis of a Federal Ghana. The Eastern Region, for example, cannot be lumped together to become one State, because it is not mono-ethnic. Even though we speak of Northerners when we are talking about all the people of the three Northern regions, none of the three regions is mono-ethnic enough to be made a unified State in a Federal Ghana. With the exception of, perhaps, [just “perhaps”], Ashanti and Volta Region, no region in Ghana is mono-ethnic enough to fit the status of a State in a Federal Ghana. For Ghana to have a successful federal system, the best basis for the creation of State units within the federal system would be traditional communities with identical features, such as a common local language and a common traditional allegiance. Any other basis will lead to problems and spell disaster. Pick federalism, and you have picked the proverbial “Asantrofi bird”...... the “mythical” bird that has “good meat” but which also brings “curse”.

Fellow Ghanaians, let us live with the devil we now, than to go for the angel we don’t know. We already have a local system of administration that has a structure that is good enough for a more devolved local government system, within which local aspirations can be achieved within the same framework of a unitary system of government. The existing local government assemblies can be the basis for a more devolved local government system. What we need to do now is to devolve more powers to local people to elect all members of their local assemblies, as well as elect all their MMDCEs. Local government authorities should also be given full responsibility to handle many local services outside central government authority, including the provision of local utilities like electricity, water, telecommunication; provision of local facilities like schools up to HSH, hospitals and other health centres; construction and management of secondary and tertiary roads; facilitation of agriculture and local food production, fisheries.....where applicable; promotion of local industries; etc. The various Local Assembly units and their CEOs should also be empowered to make their own budgets and raise local revenues, in addition to any central government allocations or subventions. Central government must only play coordinating and facilitating roles that can help a devolved local government system to work smoothly, within the overall national system of administration in a unitary system. A devolved local government system that transfers enough powers to local people to plan, execute, manage, and control their own local development is the surest way to give democracy to local people within a unitary system, and help to motivate them to participate in nation building from their own doorsteps, without the feeling of cheating and anger that is associated with a centralised central government system that concentrates all powers in the hands of people picked by a President who sits miles away from local people and rules them in absentia.

Ghanaians who are agitating for federalism must, please, stop and concentrate, rather, on pressing for greater devolution of powers from central to local government, within a unitary system of government. In this way, we get the best that a federal system can provide; and, most importantly, without its dangers and horrors.

Source: Otchere Darko. [This writer is a centrist, semi-liberalist, pragmatist, an advocate for “inter-ethnic cooperation and unity” and a community-based development protagonist. He opposes the negative, corrupt, and domineering politics of NDC and NPP; actively campaigns for the development and strengthening of “third parties”; and opposes a two-party only system of democracy in Ghana.]