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Opinions of Thursday, 15 December 2011

Columnist: Bokor, Emmanuel

Ghana Is Alive- Ghanaians Wake-Up!!!

ARE WE BUILDING THE TRUE DEMOCRACY OR A DEMOCRACY OF PATRONAGE AND PERSONALITY CULT??

It is time, when we as a PEOPLE or GHANAIANS start asking ourselves some pertinent questions and finding suitable answers to serve as a guide for fair representation of our governance system.
The first question is about representation
? Are some names or families destined to rule Ghana?
? Is representation reserved for only those who can afford?
? Are we to build our democracy around a class, ethnicity or tribe or those who can feed us?
? What about the gender issue?
Let us look at the super-leadership
? It is the time for the daughter of the late president – Dr. Kwame Nkrumah to lead the CPP and eventually become the President of Ghana.
? It is the time for the son of the late president – Mr. Edward Akuffo Addo to lead the NPP and eventually to become president of Ghana.
? It is the time for Mrs. Rawlings to lead NDC and become president of Ghana to complete the agenda of the husband, former President JJ Rawlings.
What system is this?
Let us move to Parliamentary Representation. This has become a bona fide property of the first MPs and will remain so no matter what the people say or his performance. Let someone else show interest in the seat – so much resistance from the incumbent – A cabal is formed within the political parties , and Ghanaian - Voters and ordinary party members are only called upon to endorse candidates on voting days as their constitutional rights.
It is true that our political parties are democratic in their internal electoral process but does this benefit the ordinary Ghanaians and party members?
It is good that we have power blocks within each political party and I think their power emanated from the fund they could raise for political work but not necessarily the number of votes they could command and I want to caution that sooner, than later, Ghanaians are discerning and are making their positions felt. I humbly appeal to the leadership of our political parties to insist on providing even playing field for people who want to participate in active politics.
Ethnicity is another dangerous consideration in politics- this actually opens old historical wounds and could quickly spark tribal sentiments and conflicts, because Ghana has a history.
The writer is touching these issues on the surface to enable our policy makers and political leaders know where they are pushing our dear country to.
Lets us practice a true democracy that will last the test of time. We have studied and observed other democracies world-wide. Lets us tailored ours on a model that can unite us and move us forward.
LONG LIVE GHANA AND GHANAIANS!


EMMANUEL BOKOR
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