Abu Sakara Writes: Ghana's "Choluteca" Democracy

A fine bridge that once served to cross the Choluteca river now stands beside it, because a water-filled hurricane diverted the river from under the bridge in Honduras, Central America.

Sakara Speaks.... is anyone listening?

The tumultuous quest for power and the privilege of sharing its spoils has occluded the purpose and capacity of our democracy to serve the many, so instead, it serves the few at the expense of the many. The rich get richer whilst the poor get poorer.

Dr. Michael Abu Sakara Foster, a Ghanaian
agronomist and politician

This diversion of the purpose of our democracy to serve an entrenched political elite instead of the many makes it a "Choluteca democracy" that has ceased to serve its purpose.

Meanwhile, the political elite is served well by a stagnant duopoly that guarantees a fifty-fifty (50:50) chance to loot the nation with the roll of the dice at each election.

 It appears governance under our democracy in Ghana has largely failed to adapt to the needs of our nation and instead has been distorted to serve the whims and caprices of a political elite. 

We surmise this from the evaporation of funds from the persistent and increasing borrowing, that yet to be translated into the intended transformation of our economy to a value-added economy. 

In any case, there is also the incessant cacophony of mutual accusations of corruption in the merry go round duopoly, with scandal after scandal, after scandal after scandal!

Yabre!

Many deformed and dysfunctional democracies litter the African continent and have all but killed the original passion of the Pan African dream.

Without fundamental reforms to reset the course of these democracies on the path of prosperity for all and not a few, our people are headed on the road to perdition.

NIM [National Interest Movement] has a job to do not only in Ghana but throughout Africa, where fledgling democracies are at various stages of growth, from stillborn to crawling, baby steps, walking and toddling around.

Toddlers learn to walk well faster when they are driven by a sense of purpose to reach for things that fascinate them. Thus as their brains are fed on ideas of the world around them, they walk better and eventually run.

Our governance must be fed on new ideas about how our democracy can serve the many and not the few political elites that dole out large helpings of ex-gratia to themselves at the end of each four-year tenure of government. Let us at least make them work longer for it over six years instead of four as a first step to getting more value for money.

Our democracy must exude greater inclusion, meritocracy, and equity if it is to translate into social justice in the lives of all of us. It is only then with education, that we can build a sense of patriotism and love for the pursuit of our common good in a world driven by excessive individualism and fuelled by unsustainable materialist greed that pursues personal comfort at the expense of community welfare.

Let us change our "Choluteca democracy" so that it works for the many and not a few.

NIM is focused on a system change that resets the nation on a path that adapts a new endpoint for our development, prosperity for all, not a few.

It is not enough to parrot this slogan, it must be accompanied by a system change based on constitutional reforms that end:

1) Winner takes all politics, 

2) Unequal opportunity based on who you know recruitment and appointments,

3) Misplaced investments in our economic growth based short term, self-serving gratification

4) Diminished patriotism due to a focus on self-centered progress and a shift away from the pursuit of the common good as a central philosophy for societal reconstruction.

Long live Ghana our motherland.

For God and Country

Dr. Abu Sakara Foster