Thursday, March 19, 2009

Electing a New Ghanaian President

Ghana is entering the next critical frontier in our nascent democracy and definitely needs a 100% hugely qualified leader to take us to the next critical stage. The new leader should embody all the qualities we have lacked in our current and past presidents. Kwame Nkrumah had the vision but lacked the temperament, patience, and realistic view necessary to accomplish his vision of a great nation. Of course, his successor General Afrifa was just a tool of America to overthrow Nkrumah and lacked any vision for Ghana. Busia was idealistic and lacked the boldness, strength and discipline to build the functioning democracy that his Progress Party so eloquently preached but failed to practice. Busia’s democracy cheerleaders the Progress Party were dishonest in paying lip service to democracy whilst tacitly endorsing a ban imposed on their bitterest rivals the CPP to compete in the 1969 election to stand. Ironically, the PP paid a price for this dishonesty as a CPP sympathizer; General Acheampong overthrew Busia after barely two years in power. The successive military rulers of Acheampong, Akuffo were clueless and corrupt.

Dr. Hilla Limann was weak and inefficient and allowed corruption to flourish to the extent that Jerry Rawlings capitalized on that opening to launch his December 31 coup. In JJ, we see the biggest contradiction of any ruler: he created order and also brought disorder; spoke so passionately against corruption and even punished corrupt subordinates, yet was party to corruption himself. He could be temperamental and abusive (physically assaulted his vice president), yet was also avuncular and down to earth. He could be very eloquent and yet was garrulous and nebulous. He was a president with very high personal positives and high negatives. And of course, the current occupant of Osu Castle is less than impressive.

Essentially, we just have celebrated our golden jubilee of our nation’s founding but we are perennially lacking the quintessential leadership needed to build an African Singapore or South Korea. The Ghanaian electorate must understand that the 2008 election should mark a watershed moment. It should not be a simple popularity contest. Nor should it be a simple question of who looks good (Alan Kyeremanteng). It is also not a plain question of it is my turn (Nana Akuffo Addo). Nor is it a PhD contest (Dr. Nduom, Dr. Apraku). Rather, it is about who can take Ghana from the present frontier to the next frontier -- from a abjectly poor country to a middle income country; from an ancient backward economy to a modern economy; from a country of loosely knit together tribes to a cohesive modern nation-state; from a failed state to a flourishing state; from a country of dirt roads to a country of highly developed infrastructure; from a lawless country to a country of law and order.

Why are there so many failed states in Africa? Why has so many sub-Saharan African countries been so mired in civil wars for decades – Liberia, Somalia, Ethiopia, Nigeria (don’t forget Biafra and their modern vestiges of religious skirmishes), Sierra Leone, Cote D’voire and the list goes on? The old tired excuse of colonial legacy is unacceptable. Yes the borders were artificially drawn, but does than mean we cannot overcome a false start? The tepid issue of failed leadership is paramount issue Ghanaians must address in the 2008 presidential and parliamentary elections. The Ghanaian electorate must ask tough questions. The Ghanaian presidency must be a call to service, not a call to royalty. If you are coming in with a mindset to satisfy your personal egos and whims, you are the wrong choice.

The new president must be committed to building a well-functioning democracy that can endure potential pitfalls in the long term. Moreover, a commitment to democracy includes willingness to respect rather than suppress or stifle opposition. It also means a willingness to get rid laws that are stacked against opposition whilst promoting the incumbent. Our current system where the incumbent has the liberty to use all the state’s resources to campaign is unacceptable and unfair to the opposition. We must ensure all parties get money from the state to campaign and that the incumbent government should be restricted in their use of the state resource to promote their campaign. Removing such incumbency will be healthy for our democracy, as it will remove any tendency to creating a perennial winner. Is the new president ready to take such a bitter pill and commit to democracy?

Moreover, can we have a president committed to reforming our education system? Is the new president ready to help Ghana achieve close to 100% literacy status, that all her citizens can read and write? Can the new president commit to investing to modernize our nation’s education system to make it more efficient and prepare students to handle better the demands of the 21st century? Is he ready to reform the system in a manner that would make students more?

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