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07.09.2009 Politics

Eliminate Rigging Of Polls - Rawlings

By Daily Graphic
Former President Jerry John RawlingsFormer President Jerry John Rawlings
07.09.2009 LISTEN

has urged African leaders to eliminate election rigging and manipulation, since they have the tendency to destabilise their respective countries.

He said the people of Ghana and many other developing countries would not tolerate interference in the “common good” or the “will of the people”.

'This nearly crippled Kenya, and could so easily have turned very nasty in Ghana,' he said. Former President Rawlings was delivering a lecture on: “Achieving Human-Centred Development in Africa: Possibilities and Challenges” at the Oslo University, Norway last Friday.


He said the elimination of election rigging and manipulation was one of the steps towards achieving human-centred development.

Former President Rawlings further asked social democrats to clearly educate the people within their borders on the dramatic impact that election could have on their lives.

He contended that 'neither pure socialist nor pure capitalist parties can ensure the maintenance and development of the 'common good', or the true will of the people'.

The former President advocated the establishment of a democracy that was subject to a constitution that would ensure the basic human rights of the people and clearly define the roles of the institutions that would safeguard the “common good”.


He noted that the 1992 Constitution of Ghana clearly defined the roles of the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary and upheld the principles of the separation of powers.

However, former President Rawlings said, the experience in Ghana during the rule of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) between 2001 and 2009 clearly indicated that in spite of the Constitution, massive influence of the Executive over both the Legislature and the Judiciary led to a corrupt and abused system, as well as a breakdown in the value of democracy.

The former President said the next step to achieve human-centred development was the devolution of powers to the lowest possible level.

He said despite the decentralisation efforts of the NDC and its predecessor, 'many communities feel that they are still left in the dark and that they are voiceless'.


'Ghana and nations that truly want to protect the 'common good' must ensure that the voices of all the people are heard not only during election times, but during planning and implementation of development programmes,' he stressed.

Former President Rawlings advocated a shift in the thinking of governments away from “national security” towards “human security”.

According to him, very few countries in Africa were under threat of attack from outside nations, and indicated that the threat was much bigger internally.

'The neglect of addressing real issues of poverty, food insecurity, environmental deprivation and other issues that directly impact on the common good of the people is today’s threat,' he said.


The former President lamented that although Africa was endowed with abundant human and mineral resources, the continent still remained one of the poorest regions of the world.

He said while the forces of globalisation had unleashed development in certain parts of the developing world, particularly in Asia and Latin America, Africa was marginalised and remained 'a mere appendage to the global economy'.

He said pockets of development could be identified in Africa in countries such as Botswana and Ghana. However, he said, 'the fact remains that Africa as a whole is lagging behind when it comes to the benefits of globalisation'.

Former President Rawlings noted that Africa was plagued with a catalogue of problems that detracted the continent from the development of its huge human resources.

'A sustainable and human-centred development demands the development and implementation of policies that would bring about the alleviation of poverty, disease, illiteracy, and ignorance, and environmental degradation, and engender gender equality, civil rights and the empowerment of women,' he said.

Former President Rawlings underscored the need for African leaders to find, develop and nurture true leaders that ensure an all-embracing development of the continent.

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