In Africa, Democracy is the Gov't of the Politicians by the Politicians for the Politicians

By Stanley Seshie

Abraham Lincoln was not just wrong. He was wrong absolutely in
declaring that democracy is the government of the people, by the
people and for the people. How I wish prayer works, so that I can
miraculously resurrect him and serve him the data on democratic
governance in Africa. After which I will relax with a bottle of beer
and sausage as I watch him go tbrough for conclusion. By the time he
finishes he will undoubtedly agree that, he got it wrong - at least in
Africa. In Africa, democracy is the government of the politicians by
the politicians for the politicians. Ghana is no exception. This is
truism to anyone who loves hardcore evidence. Let me illustrate with
an analogy.

A family head that mismanages the financial and material resources of
the family is not only destroying the household, he is equally
destroying himself. Similarly, the servant who misuses the master's
financial and material resources is not only dwindling down the
master's wealth, he is equally destroying himself as he can end up
becoming unemployed or imprisoned. In other words, this family head or
servant will end up becoming poorer materially, financially and
depraved than he started. However, there are group of men called
African politicians who the society mistook for family heads and
servants working for the betterment of the household (Nation) and
their masters (the people).

Yet, unlike the real family heads and servants who shall certainly
become worse off in mismanaging the household's and master's material
and financial resources, these politicians do the same thing and even
on a greater scale and, never went home worse off than they came.
Paradoxically, these politicians practically mismanage the people's
financial and material resources and end up becoming richer
materially, financially and morally emboldened than they came. That is
the reality in Ghana, and Africa for that matter. An Africa politician
is a pseudo-family head and equally a pseudo-servant of the people.
That is who they are. That is the Ghanaian politician. This is truism.

Politics in Ghana is simply which political party mismanages the
nation's resources to enrich themselves and cronies than the other.
Remember it is in the management that the mismanagement appears. So do
not be deceived. The politico-economic thinking of our leaders usually
end up in stage one - would these series of policies make my
government re-electable? It is always about the re-election and not
the teleological development of the nation. An obsession that ensures
their tenure is always full of political decisions than economic ones.
Meanwhile a nation develops when the government takes more economic
decisions than political ones. The question then is not whether any
particular government had done any developmental projects in the
transport, health, agricultural, education among other sectors or not.
That, they all do.

The main question: is the volume and quality of such accomplishments
in the light of the available material and financial resources to the
government realistic in expectation. Economically, progress is doing
more with less. Development rides on prudent economic decisions, not
political decisions. Therefore, with our inumerable resources, these
politicians should have done more than they trumpet and not trumpeting
more than they have done. Of course, progress is so gradual in its
evolution that it risked been overshadowed by any institutional decay.
Nevertheless, if things were efficiently managed no institutional
decay should seriously eclipse the developmental success of any
government. The leadership crisis we all complain about in this
country is but irrationality crisis nobody wants to admit.

In an information age as ours, the distinction between ignorance and
irrationality is more than clear. Ignorance has to do with lack or
absence of information. Irrationality is the misuse or ignoring the
available information that should otherwise inspire a reasonable
action for the betterment of all - or at least the majority. Our
politicians have all the necessary information about the debilitating
existential conditions of the Ghanaian. They also have the data on the
available material and financial resources to use efficiently with the
glued support of the denizens to ameliorate if not eliminate their
unnecessary sufferings.

Yet, not only do they hardheartedly ignore or misuse the information,
they wantonly mismanage the available financial and material resources
as well. That is but irrationality. The irrationality that pervades
the Ghanaian democracy is what is shocking. Accordingly, it is not
being cynical equally declaring, though contrary to Abraham Lincoln,
that, democracy in Africa is the government of the politicians by the
politicians for the politicians. The people just vote. In this
election year, whether by retaining or changing the ruling government,
we are just going to vote. Corruption, mismanagement and
misapproriation are all different manifestation of the same thing:
irrationality of the politician.

Email: seshiehanku@gmail.com

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