In Africa, Democracy Is The Government Of The Politicians By The Politicians For The Politicians

Abraham Lincoln was not just wrong. He was wrong absolutely in declaring that democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people. How I wish prayer works, so that I can miraculously resurrect him and serve him the data on democratic governance in Africa.

After which I will relax with a bottle of beer and sausage as I watch him go tbrough for conclusion. By the time he

finishes he will undoubtedly agree that, he got it wrong - at least in Africa. In Africa, democracy is the government of the politicians by the politicians for the politicians. Ghana is no exception. This is truism to anyone who loves hardcore evidence. Let me illustrate with an analogy.

A family head that mismanages the financial and material resources of the family is not only destroying the household, he is equally destroying himself. Similarly, the servant who misuses the master's financial and material resources is not only dwindling down the master's wealth, he is equally destroying himself as he can end up becoming unemployed or imprisoned.

In other words, this family head or servant will end up becoming poorer materially, financially and depraved than he started. However, there are group of men called African politicians who the society mistook for family heads and servants working for the betterment of the household (Nation) and their masters (the people).

Yet, unlike the real family heads and servants who shall certainly become worse off in mismanaging the household's and master's material and financial resources, these politicians do the same thing and even on a greater scale and, never went home worse off than they came.

Paradoxically, these politicians practically mismanage the people's financial and material resources and end up becoming richer materially, financially and morally emboldened than they came. That is the reality in Ghana, and Africa for that matter.

An Africa politician is a pseudo-family head and equally a pseudo-servant of the people. That is who they are. That is the Ghanaian politician. This is truism.

Politics in Ghana is simply which political party mismanages the nation's resources to enrich themselves and cronies than the other.

Remember it is in the management that the mismanagement appears. So do not be deceived. The politico-economic thinking of our leaders usually end up in stage one - would these series of policies make my government re-electable? It is always about the re-election and not the teleological development of the nation. An obsession that ensures their tenure is always full of political decisions than economic ones.

Meanwhile a nation develops when the government takes more economic decisions than political ones. The question then is not whether any particular government had done any developmental projects in the transport, health, agricultural, education among other sectors or not.

That, they all do. The main question: is the volume and quality of such accomplishments in the light of the available material and financial resources to the government realistic in expectation. Economically, progress is doing more with less. Development rides on prudent economic decisions, not political decisions.

Therefore, with our inumerable resources, these politicians should have done more than they trumpet and not trumpeting more than they have done. Of course, progress is so gradual in its evolution that it risked been overshadowed by any institutional decay.

Nevertheless, if things were efficiently managed no institutional decay should seriously eclipse the developmental success of any government. The leadership crisis we all complain about in this country is but irrationality crisis nobody wants to admit.

In an information age as ours, the distinction between ignorance and irrationality is more than clear. Ignorance has to do with lack or absence of information. Irrationality is the misuse or ignoring the available information that should otherwise inspire a reasonable action for the betterment of all - or at least the majority.

Our politicians have all the necessary information about the debilitating existential conditions of the Ghanaian. They also have the data on the available material and financial resources to use efficiently with the glued support of the denizens to ameliorate if not eliminate their unnecessary sufferings.

Yet, not only do they hardheartedly ignore or misuse the information, they wantonly mismanage the available financial and material resources as well. That is but irrationality. The irrationality that pervades the Ghanaian democracy is what is shocking.

Accordingly, it is not being cynical equally declaring, though contrary to Abraham Lincoln, that, democracy in Africa is the government of the politicians by the politicians for the politicians. The people just vote. In this election year, whether by retaining or changing the ruling government, we are just going to vote. Corruption, mismanagement and misapproriation are all different manifestation of the same thing: irrationality of the politician.

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