By Laudia Sawer
Tema, Nov. 22, GNA — Stakeholders in Ghana’ next December general elections have been called upon to follow due process before, during, and after the elections to help protect Ghana’s democracy.
Dr Benjamin Any Agre, the Chief Executive Officer of the Afro-Continental Union Consult, making the call, said flaws associated with electoral processes, especially in Africa, kill democracy.
Dr Anyagre, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on electoral flaws, noted that without following due process, the very bodies that ought to do things right to protect the innate sovereignty will of Ghanaians would end up destroying the country’s democracy through their actions and inactions.
“Electoral errors by bodies with statutory mandate to conduct and manage elections with an object destination of free, fair, transparent, and responsiveness must be done with due diligence before, during, and after the electoral processes to a sound democratic practice,” he stated.
He added that the role of electoral bodies must also contribute to adding confidence to the effort of a voter in search of a good governance system.
“The better conditions of life are what move an individual to go queue and cast a ballot to make democracy attractive and sound; therefore, we must not short-change citizens who vote for better policies,” he noted.
He intimated that political activists seeking a mandate to serve must be honest, truthful, and holy to enforce their pledges to make democracy sound, healthy, and acceptable, as that would address socio-economic insecurity to ensure life satisfaction.
Dr Anyagre indicated that democratic systems must be geared towards solving basic economic challenges; therefore, politicians must not give promises but must fulfil them when voted into power.
According to him, a democracy that ceases to deal with tangible economic hardship confrontations is not democracy but rather the application of the exploitation of the people under the ambit of democracy.
“This type of democracy is a democracy not for the people but that which infringes on basic human rights. Reflective visibility of poverty is when in a nation roads meant for vehicular purposes are in competition with hawkers. The visibility of poverty is when a patient in a hospital is asked to buy paracetamol to survive, yet can’t afford but passes,” he stressed.
He added that democracy that fails to address poverty and want is not democracy but a scam, stating that when people see democratic elections as an opportunity for the few to secure political power with unfulfilled promises, they call it a game instead of a civic responsibility.
He noted that good governance, associated with good democratic responsiveness and satisfactory outcomes, minimises the rush and appearances of many political parties on the electoral front.
GNA