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Opinions of Saturday, 4 May 2013

Columnist: Osei-Poku, Emmanuel

Gerontocracy: the oppression the youth of the country encounter…

A gerontocracy is a form of oligarchical rule in an entity that is ruled by leaders who are significantly older than most of the adult population. Often the political structure is such that political power within the ruling class accumulates with age, so that the oldest hold the most power. Those holding the most power may not be in formal leadership positions, but often dominate those who are.
Gerontocracy's stability is seen as its strength, which can be more appropriate for institutions that teach principles that do not vary over time. Therefore with the revolutionary wind blowing signifies that the 21st Century is the era of youth empowerment to serve as a powerful drive to development in countries. In institutions that have to cope with rapid change, the decreased faculties of the aged can potentially be a handicap in providing effective leadership.
It is 56 years and Ghana still has not found a way to utilize the energy of the youth. The young, capable and vibrant youth of the country suffer so many forms of hardships and discouragements in all our educational build-up but we still face difficulties in employment opportunities. Our old-aged fathers lack the requisite ability to put in higher levels of work and can help the state in their higher levels of thinking through ideas, advice, the setting out of objectives and aid as a source of consultancy which suits very well in deputy ministerial positions tapping into their experiences.

There must be an end to gerontocracy in the country. The qualification must be based on ability over past credibility, not mainly about PHDs, Degrees, and Masters to mention few. We all know it is about being able to stand and rescue for our heritage to its fullest heights.



My generation due to this oppression has indulged in many non-profitable activities because there is a local deception that “I cannot do it, I am young”.
The main cause of the low-will power in my generation is as a result of the bad morale life which hampers the development of the youth in the country all pointing to the low quality in parental orientation plagued with many deceptions like “Keep quiet, old people are talking” when our same fathers talk about “When a child learns how to wash his or her hands it opens a chance for him or her to eat with old people.
It is so clear we are in a new era now and the youth as typical of every new era takes up the task to stand and rescue the heritage of the country. The related problem is that my generation is so blind to the extent that they stand for the non-profitable trends in the World and claim it is the new trend and throw away the opportunity of building on the wisdom and knowledge of our fathers which is the only way we can be in the best position to receive the proud chance of rescuing the Ghanaian Heritage as deemed.
ARISE GHANA YOUTH, ABOVE THE OPPRESSION!

MR. EMMANUEL OSEI-POKU
POLITICAL SCIENCE STUDENT
UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON.
Emmanuel18121991@gmail.com
0246041723