Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings questions the state of Ghana’s Democracy and Governance

Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, the member of parliament for the Klottey Korle seat in the Greater Accra area, has expressed her serious worries about Ghana’s democracy and administration on social media.

She posed insightful concerns regarding the integrity, justice, and openness of the political process in a post on LinkedIn, as well as whether or not these values will be applied to the next general elections in 2024.

Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings talked about how difficult it is to deal with the current political situation and how many seem to be “waiting till 2024” for a possible change in leadership. She wondered if attempts to subvert democracy and the rule of law would cloud the democratic process during the elections, or if it would be preserved.

The lawmaker, who is also the daughter of the late Ghanaian president Jerry John Rawlings, drew attention to the long-standing problem of Ghana’s interpretation of democracy being a winner-take-all system and chastised the country for emphasizing elections over addressing corruption and poor governance in between election cycles, which allows a select few to seize power and plunge the country into chaos.

She questioned the efficacy of the institutions designed to serve as a check on the executive branch and whether they served as a vehicle for electoral manipulation or as a means of holding the government responsible while it was in office.

Concerning the migration of Ghanaians in search of better prospects overseas, Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings stated that this will provide a serious challenge to the administration that emerges victorious in the next elections. She underlined the necessity of utilizing the human resources of the country to solve the current challenges and restore Ghana’s self-respect.

“For a long time we have lamented about the zero-sum/winner-takes-all approach to our interpretation of democracy and yet we have failed to change the status quo. Our collective myopic focus on elections and inability to pull the brakes on the bad governance and corruption in between, has allowed a few selfish individuals to take us into the abyss.

“So, I ask myself, of what use are the institutions that are meant to act as checks and balances over the executive if all we can do is wait for a change in government in the hope that they will do better or be different? What kind of example are we setting for the younger generation and what kind of hope are we offering the youth of today??? At a time when we need our human capacity more than ever, we are seeing an exodus of our people on an unprecedented level – with one outcome: whoever wins the next elections will have a Herculean task in mobilizing the human resource required to clean up this mess and restore this nation’s self-respect.”

The lawmaker asked whether people who were knowledgeable about democracy and the rule of law intended to use their knowledge to tear down what others had accomplished. He also called for a national commitment to halt the country’s retreat and make sure that democracy and governance were not compromised.

In her message, Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings emphasized the need for a public statement that Ghana would not let democracy to be usurped. She also urged the people to set a limit on their tolerance for political partisanship and meddling that undermine the country’s institutions.

“As I look at countries in the midst of conflict whose people are suffering but fighting for a better future, I look at my own beloved country Ghana and I wonder at which point will we all collectively declare that we will not allow people to hijack us under the guise of democracy and take our compliance for granted. When will enough be enough?”

Discussions on Ghana’s democracy and the need to reassess the nation’s political system and governance have been spurred by Zanetor’s tweet.