Of recent, a lot have been said and published about the nature of the democracy we practice here in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa. Many people describe it as “winner takes all” and suggest that Ghana should rather think of forming all inclusive government or what some called unity government. However, millions of Ghanaians and non Ghanaians have been loud in describing Ghana as a beacon of democracy and the need to keep that title have always been cherished. It is however refreshing to note that the door to searching for alternative governance systems is still not closed, at least in Ghana.

According to Karl Marx electoral democracy is a system of governance where “ the oppressed are allowed once every few years ( 4 years: bracket mine) to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them”. This description of democracy aptly describes the reality of it as it pertains in Ghana and in most developing countries. The core of our democracy today is sharing. Sharing of resources in a form of positions, jobs and privileges. Nothing more than this. Because of this it is possible to see people who failed common elementary school exams in the past now taking up highly paid jobs and their colleques who were brainy and boffins are sitting in limbo. The jobs do not go to the best technocrats and scientist but to those who deserve to take a share of the national money called GDP. They share because they belong to the oppressing class: a class of people who have a monopoly to share. They keep sharing and sometimes they are down to bones.

In a democracy like our own, the losers are the non-formally educated rural folks and their sons. They go to vote every four years with good expectations of a positive change in their lives and that of their children only to meet new elections remaining the same if not worse off. Those groups of people know not salary, they eat what they farm and leave very little for sale. Ninety-nine percent (99%) of them will die without entering the bank; their children cannot get quality education due to cost, geographical location and lack of teaching and learning materials.

Yet some of the oppressed will struggle to educate themselves to the university level only to realize that they cannot get jobs because no ‘power elite’ knows them and there are no opportunities for them to share. In Ghana they called them names such as ‘avoidable graduates’ ‘non-skilled graduates’ ‘non-entrepreneurial graduates’ and the like. Government Ministers will normally ridicule them by asking them to create their own jobs after they (Ministers) have shared all important government jobs. People of the oppressing class cannot create or do not prefer their own jobs and so they will normally jostle and finagle their way to getting a government job. Unfortunately, whenever they come forth with their usual hypocritical cants, our people capitulate to them. When will all these unrest stop?

BY Kassim Alabani, B.A (Tamale) M.Sc.(Cape Coast)

Email: Kassimalabani@yahoo.com

Tel: + 233 207352420. Â From

Kassim Alabani,

Tel: + 233 207352420 Email: kassimalabani@yahoo.com Tamale, Ghana, West Africa.