The Ghanaian Politicians and Moral Standards

Apart from their economic policies and performances, Should our politicians be benched mark against a high moral standard? Absolutely! Like any Actor, their behavior, whether public or private, serves as an example for others to follow. If the politicians who are labeled as liars and bribe-takers are seen as successful, then others will follow and behave similarly. So the moral standards of every politician, is a great concern to any nation.

We like to believe that our elected leaders are pillars of integrity, filled with honesty and virtue, there only to serve and make their constituencies better. We know this isn't often true especially in the continent that we find ourselves, that those we elect often run not to represent us, but to enrich themselves. This is a sad, but true aspect of democracy. We can easily see the deterioration of approval ratings of most leaders shortly after they are elected. They promise more than they can deliver often things they don't themselves believe in, but know their voter base does.

They put forth an image as a fighter for the common man, a believer in hockey, football, only to get elected and reveal their Mr. Hyde persona. What is your motivation to participate in the democratic process? We vote because we want trust and confidence that the candidate we vote for will follow a moral path to support those issues we find important and oppose those we find unnecessary or wasteful. His or her job is not to write books, make speeches, and wield power, but to represent us in as honest a manner as possible, irrespective whether his Ministers are team “B”.

Before I conclude, there is these funny ideas I think we should implement as Ghanaians to ensure we have trust and confidence in our elected leaders. First and foremost, show them that immoral behavior will not be tolerated. If caught in any sought of corruption, they are no longer fit to hold office and should be removed. No waiting until the next election cycle; get the necessary petitions and signatures, then get a referendum or recall election to remove them immediately. Let them know they have no chance of getting re-elected, so resignation is the only way they can write their own ticket out of town.

The second way is to institute term limits. Those who make a career of public office abuse the system by giving themselves pay raises, excluding themselves from having to follow the rules they write into law, and focusing on their own benefit rather than that of their constituents. They make policies that have long term impact, but which they will never have to adhere to.

Their policies may be imposing unnecessary curfews in Bawku, but they've never served in the Police or Military either. They may make economic policy without the benefit of ever having taken a course in economics. They make appointments of friends and campaign donors to important government positions when these appointees have zero expertise in the primary duties of the job. The evidence has been the fact that Ghanaian appointed Ministers under the Mills Led government are now furthering their education...Why won't people call them team “B” Ministers?

The best elected officials are those who know they will have to go back to their constituents and answer for their performance. They know how their constituents live because they used to live there, too. Today, we have a president who has never held a private-sector job. His approval ratings are plummeting because who he really is has started to appear. It's evident that his entire pursuit of the presidency was about him, not what he could do for our country. Yet by some leap in reason, he believes himself qualified and expert enough to completely reshape our economy, our financial industry, our educational sector, and our health care industry.

He had none of those qualifications on his resume; in fact, he didn't really even have a resume, apart from his academic achievement in Law, yet we elected him. We have Former President Rawlings with 20 years in the Ghanaian presidency. He was responsible for the death of the three judges, yet was never held accountable. What does he know about how the common man lives? Can he be trusted to advice the current government he tirelessly campaigned for, to make and shape policies when he lives in such a sheltered world? Look at the others who have held office for decades, the likes of Akuffo Addo, Achempong, Limann, Rawlings, Kuffour and ask yourselves if they have really contributed more to the common man or to themselves.

A higher moral standard is about trust, but the status quo is about power and temptation. Until we change the system to limit the power and remove or deter the temptation to enrich oneself, no higher moral standard will ever survive. It will be trampled by corruption. Here's the scenario: Politicians can play by the rules as they are written, meaning they can be corrupt, too, or they will never be able to accomplish anything good for their constituencies. That's the excuse they use for how it starts. Just trying to do something good, they got caught up in something they didn't realize was illegal until it was too late. Then when all that money started coming in, it was too hard and too late to go back.

Show no mercy to them. They are not victims, no matter how much they cry on TV or how pathetic they act. Throw them out and make every one of them an example for the next. Take control of our democracy back. "Of the people, by the people and for the people" is what we cannot forget.

Author: Paul Rex Danquah
East London
Development / Accra / Ghana / Africa / Modernghana.com