THE ROTATIONAL POLITICAL SYSTEM:MULTI-PARTY DEMOCRACY: HOW IT SHOULD BE IN GHANA
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This is a suggestion worth considering by all who have the interest of the whole of
Ghana at heart. This has been designed to be non-partisan as possible, and some of
the reasons for any unusual proposition will be stated. It is very important to note
that this is only a sketch, and your suggestions, be it critical or otherwise, will
help develop this idea. It must also be borne in mind the objectives of the
proposal, which is to eradicate partisan and divisive politics to guarantee the
avoidance of civil conflict following any election; to concentrate the efforts of
governments on the real needs of the people of Ghana as opposed to the priority of
political party, [which is to win elections]; to replace short-term party manifestos
of individual parties with ONE agenda for the nation; and to enhance probity and
accountability in politics.
The system consists of the following bodies or arms of government:
1) THE SUPREME COUNCIL OF STATE (SCS),
2) POLITICAL PARTIES,
3) LOCAL GOVERNMENT,
4) THE JUDICIARY, and
5) THE MEDIA.
1) The SUPREME COUNCIL of STATE (SCS) will be made up of both elected and un-elected
citizens. You can suggest which kind of people to constitute this body once you know
the proposed function for it. They will act as the Board of Governors and Trustees
on behalf of the people of Ghana. The SCS will be responsible for drawing up and
reviewing a long term Developmental Plan for Ghana. They will also be responsible
for setting achievable TARGETS for a ruling political party. (This will be
understood more under Political Parties in the next paragraph). The SCS will
crucially be the evaluators of the ruling party to determine their performance, upon
which the term of office of the ruling party will depend. This body will also be
responsible for investigating corruption and abuse of office allegations against any
political party (in or out of power), and possible legal action on behalf of the
people of Ghana. The armed forces should be under the command of the
SCS and not the president, at least in principle. This body will not be sitting as
often as the parliament. It will meet only a few times in a month, (and as when
needed). When this body is in session, it will carry more power than the president.
It should be completely independent from all the other bodies. Its remuneration
will be determined by the fully elected local government, and not by the president,
or a political party. In my opinion, some of the experts who should be members of
this very august body are as follows: The head of the Institute of Economic
Affairs, Vice Chancellors, The Audit Commissioner (Auditor General), Head of the
Ghana Bar Association, Head of the National House of Chiefs, and at least one head
from a Ghana based human rights organisation, or The Commissioner for Human Rights
and Administrative Justice and The head of the TUC. In this case the president
should not have exclusive right to appoint any of the above positions.
The elected members of the Supreme Council of State should be, ten (10), one (1)
from each of the ten (10) regions of the country. These ten directly elected
members would also be the MAYORS of their respective regions. These members will
serve for as long as they are elected as mayors. The experts should also serve for
as long as they hold their various offices that propelled them to the SCS.
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2) The POLITICAL PARTIES will be formed to exclude the active members of the current
mostly tribal and ethnic based parties. I suggest three (3) political parties, which
will take turns to run the affairs of the state. They will act as contractors or
temporary workers for the people of Ghana, employed by the SCS, our board of
governors or trustees. They employ their own style or method of delivering or
meeting the set targets. The parties choose their own leader in accordance to a set
criteria, or qualifications, and vetted by the SCS. The leader will introduce
himself or herself to the people by touring the most regions and districts. The
chosen leader will be our President(Chief Executive Officer) when that party assumes
office. A party in power will have to work towards set TARGETS, instead of towards
winning elections and a short term party manifesto. The targets are set by our board
of governors, the SCS, at the start of a term of office. The
targets may include GDP, employment, export, school enrolment, inflation, law and
order, human rights, food production, health care, etc. Each target will be given
different priority for any government depending on the state of the nation and the
needs of the people at the start of the term. The party in power will also propose
laws, (legislation), to be debated on by the directly elected local government
office holders, (i.e. MCEs, DCEs), and the MAYORS (regionally elected members of
the SCS). The parties will also have strong presence in all the regions. A ruling
party will appoint a member to each Metropolitan, Municipal or District Assembly.
These political appointees will act as liaison officers between the Executive and
the Local Assemblies. This is not an executive position. They will take part in
debates and discussions but will have no vote. They will be on the pay roll of the
Ministry of Local Government and should not be paid more than the
average pay of a headmaster of a local JSS.
Very importantly the length of term of office will be determined by the performance
of a ruling party. The performance will be measured against the set targets. I
propose a standard term length of FIVE (5) years. This means that if a party in
power meets the target set for it by the SCS at the start of its term, they rule for
5 years before making way for the next party in line. If at the end of a 5-year
standard term, a ruling party performs better than the set targets, it is rewarded
by a term extension of 3 years. That party would therefore govern for EIGHT (8)
YEARS, before making way for the party in line. If on the other hand, a ruling party
is evaluated after two and a half years and predicted to perform less than average,
it loses two (2) years. This means that a poor performing party will govern for only
THREE (3) years instead of the standard 5. The number of years a party rules
determine the pensions of its executives. Their image will also be
at stake here. In this Rotational Multi-Party System, a ruling party aims directly
at meeting the set targets, (set by the SCS), instead of “painting the opposition
black” to the voters, and amassing state funds to fight general elections. Parties
in waiting will not have the need to pull down a party in power. In fact the
opposite is the case under this system. A party in line to assume office will wish
to take over from a successful government to give them a smooth start. All
governments work towards the same long-term grand socio-economic programme for
Ghana drawn by the SCS.
When political parties are not in power, they will operate as charity clubs and
educate and help the needy in our society. They will also be obliged to familiarise
themselves with the people of the whole country by systematically travelling round
the country.
3) The LOCAL GOVERNMENT system in operation now will be more accountable and
sensitive to the people they serve with a handful of changes and additions. Instead
of appointed regional ministers, Mayors will be directly elected. These mayors will
represent their regions on the Supreme Council of State. This is an executive
position. Their election should strictly be non-partisan (that is not between
parties but independent individuals). The chief executives of the assemblies, namely
the Metropolitan/ Municipal Chief Executives (MCEs), the District Chief Executives
(DCEs) must all be directly elected on a non-partisan platform, as opposed to being
appointed by a ruling party. A ruling party will be represented by its Party Liaison
Officers, (a non executive post), at every assembly.
4) THE JUDICIARY system is very good except the political interference seen under
the current political system. I am pretty certain that under this proposed
Rotational System where political vendetta and witch hunting is non existent,
Presidents will follow the correct laid down procedure to appoint the Chief Justice,
and judges to the Supreme Court.
5) Last but not the least is the MEDIA. The media will have an important role as a
watchdog. Registered (Professional) Journalists should be given more access to
unclassified public information. This will help them accurately inform and educate
the general public on the state of our various socio-economic activities. For
example, they should have access to infant mortality rate in any hospital; reported
crimes in police stations. They should be able to make public controversial
activities of public and political office holders without fear of prosecution. They
will also be required by the constitution to keep alive all political investigations
and prosecutions till their conclusion. Any registered journalist can impeach or
indict any member of the SCS on two conditions at the public expense. First, the
journalist should have overwhelming evidence of a wrong doing, and secondly the
legally binding support of at least five (5) of the ten elected SCS
members (the Mayors).
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In conclusion this proposed Rotational Political System will ensure meaningful
democracy; accountability; continuity; grass root participation; efficiency; lasting
peace and above all much needed accelerated development. Respect for our elders and
those in authority which used to be a quintessential part of our diverse culture,
will be restored.
This system will also eliminate tribal and ethnic tensions, political antagonism,
vilification, expensive and highly charged presidential and parliamentary elections,
no more waste on a politically polarized and rubber-stamp parliament, and no more
cross party collusion on corruption investigations.
The presidency also ceases to be a gold mine for greedy and selfish individuals.
With the elimination of general or presidential elections, one would not need
campaign ‘sponsors’ that lead to corruption. The presidency cannot therefore be
‘bought’.
Imagine a group of constitutional experts or even ordinary Ghanaians like you and me
getting together to debate this idea and develop it further. I always believe that,
we as Ghanaians, have the ‘brains’ to develop our own system, and be the hallmark
for not only Africa, but all developing countries. We will not be really free or
independent until we find our unique and working system of ruling.
LONG LIVE GHANA!!
By John Paa Kojo Blankson.