Ghana’s Elections And Its Democracy!!

Over the year's Ghana's democracy has been tested on a solid ground on many occasions, from the year 1992 -2020. In 2012 Ghana's election was a dynamic one prior to the election; the sitting president His Excellency John Evans Atta Mills blessed memory kicked the bucket in bizarre fashion,

That paved the way for the then vice president John Dramani Mahama to be sworn in as the stand gap president to replace John Evans Atta Mills, the 2012 election fever was up in the air with numerous parties unveiling sumptuous songs just to keep beef up the interest of the citizens. As usual campaign messages were not left out, the political parties mounted campaign platforms to drive home their campaign messages which were wholeheartedly accepted by the citizens finally, the eleventh hour was upon the citizens to exercise their franchise as enshrined in the Constitution.

Biography of John Evans Atta Mills (3rd President of the 4th Republic of Ghana) Part 2 - African Research Consult

Lo and behold the citizens went to the polls to exercise their franchise by voting massively for the National Democratic Congress, from a political point of view, some section of Ghanaians tagged NDC's triumph in the 2012 election as a vote of sympathy, however some people were of the view that the NDC's victory in the 2012 Election was attributed to the success they were able to chalk in that time frame, taking into consideration the massive improvement in developmental success chalked in the education, economy, health and some sectors which had a first share of the national cake. Former President John Dramani Mhama in his 6years in office as President has performed tremendously and people thinks he should be giving another 4 yeas to transform the country economy but we were hits by power crisis and corruption activities under his appointees.

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Despite NDC's victory in the 2012 elections, the opposition NPP accused the Electoral Commission for rigging the elections in favor of the ruling party. Since the NPP smelled fowl play and felt cheated, they decided to contest the Election results in court to devoid any form of violence, chaos and anarchy which had the tendency of throwing the country into chaos. The court proceedings were a defining moment in Ghana's history and it will go down in the annals of Ghanaian political history. It also served as a learning curve for numerous Ghanaians who had the opportunity of watching the proceedings on TV. As a writer, I was a bit confused with some of the judiciary terms however with time I learnt a lot from the court proceedings, some household names in the Judicial section were there to grace the occasion notably among them were Tsatsu Tsikata, Philip Addison,Tony Lithur, Justice Atuguba and others.

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On a more serious note the court proceedings were sometimes boring and hectic, the final day for the verdict came and the ruling party (NDC) won the case beating off competition from the NPP who filed a petition. Fast forward to 2016, it was a sharp contrast to the 2012 general election, however this time 2016 was exceptional as well, this time around the NPP after testing defeat in the election petition case decided to adopt a new strategy and a new campaign message which spread like a wild fire through Ghana, there was no water to quench the already existing "Free SHS " campaign message which was adopted. The NDC also came up with a slogan dubbed “JM Toaso". The NDC decided to use that slogan to solicit for votes from the citizenry and also retain them in power for their good work. As the saying goes, politics is the game of intelligence, the opposition NPP was able to sell and advertise the SHS policy which got its way to the box office as the most sought after campaign message in history. It was a career defining moment in Ghana’s' history. The 'Free SHS'

CHASS calls for immediate review of Free SHS policy - myinfo.com.gh changed the landscape prior to the 2016 election, and this time around the NPP won by a landslide victory, their manifesto message did the magic for them as there was always a window of opportunity for them to make amends for their short comings in 2012, they really put their house in order and smiled their way to the bank with their heads held high. It was the first time in Ghana’s' history that a sitting government was flipped of the seat by an opposition party who played their cards well by putting in place stringent measures to avoid been shot in the foot. It’s also first in the history in Ghana to have a hang parliament with a president from another party and the speaker of parliament from another party. According to the president “We know how to being back the economy, we don’t know how to bring back dead lives” he said this due to the fights against the covid-19 fight in the country.

The president in his first four year term as president, he tried to achieve what he promised in 2016 but his government was not able to accomplish. In the history of the 4^th republic of Ghana, President Nana Addo was the first president ever appointed 110 ministers in his government. His government has been scrutinized about the size of his ministry’s and the corruption activities which went under his carpet. They have been lots of corruption and scandals against His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffor Addo, and his government. The opposition party used against him in the 2020 election knowing it will fetch them vote to retune to power. Many journalists in the country have over the 4years complained about the intimidation, harassment, brutality and threats from is government and some supporters of the party. In these basic journalists seems to say the Former president John Dramani Mahamas government was friendlier to the media. Within the four years the free press the NPP government has been downplayed and soiled by the beatings of journalist and kissing of citizens.

Despite NPP's victory in the just ended 202 elections, the opposition NDC accused the Electoral Commission for rigging the elections in favor of the ruling party. Since the NDC smelled fowl play and felt cheated, they decided to contest the Election results in court in the second time in Ghana’s history of the 4^th republic to devoid any form of violence, chaos and anarchy which had the tendency of throwing the country into chaos. The opposition leader and the former president of the republic of Ghana say “I don’t believe in the results due to mistakes made by the electoral commission in declaring the presidential election result”. This made former president John Dramani Mahama and his party files a petition in the Supreme Court to challenge the 2020 December election. The former president said, he believes the rule of law must word and so the rightful way of dealing with issues is by heading to court than causing violence with supporters on the street. In the 2020 December elections a lot of members of parliament are facing court petition to challenge the others win, which makes this year’s election very interesting one indeed as democracy is concern.

The country looks to the president in cutting down the size of his government in his second term as 110 ministers was appointed in his first four years and the citizen complained. The people of Ghana believe his second term in office should be better than his first four years. Despite Ghana being one of the least corrupt countries in Africa, Ghana is annually losing billions to graft - a menace that keeps people poor and shatters their dreams. Ghana’s anti-graft body, Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), which is Transparency International’s Local Chapter, warned that the country “loses close to US$3 billion to corruption annually.

Governments have attempted to minimize corruption through moral crusades to uphold high ethics; the confiscation of properties found to have been acquired through corruption or public reforms, but that there is still a long way ahead to fight the problem. While most of the countries of the continent are awash with corruption, tiny Ghana is according to Transparency International (TI) Corruption Index among the least corrupt countries of the continent. A recent corruption scandal serves as an example for acts that leave citizens in poverty, joblessness, in their broken homes and with shattered dreams!

Story by Maxwell Nkansah