Democracy has completely failed Ghana.

In fact, the way things are unfolding in Ghana nowadays, the only remedy is a complete house cleaning exercise that would set aside this current bogus document called the constitution in order to pave the way for a new and better constitution that can draw on the experiences we’ve had for the past 30 years. Truth be told, our politicians are just toiling with our lives and at the same time amassing wealth at the expense of the very people they promise to improve their socioeconomic wellbeing during elections. It’s all lies after lies that they tell the public when they canvass for votes to become leaders. Didn’t Akufo Addo for instance, asked us to try him and see the good things he would do in Ghana? We believed him and voted for him but in the end, what has he done to us? He has worsened our plight as a people. He promised heaven but has delivered hell. Inflation before he was voted into power was 22% but now 40-44%. The dollar was gh4 and change but now gh11-12. Transport costs have skyrocketed among the various means of transportation. Food prices are nothing to talk about. Import duties are through the roof. Recently, I bought a small concrete block machine from China for my private usage. The machine itself cost $700, additional parts cost me$150 the shipment to Tema cost $200, putting the CIF value of the machine at $1050. When the machine arrived in Ghana, Ghana customs valued the machine at gh40,000, and the duty and handling charges excluding my agent’s fee amounted to a whopping gh18,000. That is Akufo Addo and Bawumia’s government for you. The economy has been so badly damaged that, it will require a miracle to rejuvenate it and put it on a proper pedestal. As a friend of mine always say, “Ghana’s economy is on life support “. This is the truth about the current state of our economy brought to us by Akufo Addo- Bawumia’s administration, and as if that is not enough, Akufo Addo wants to impose Bawumia again on us as if our sufferings are not enough. God forbid!!.

The alternative to Bawumia, in the person of John Mahama is not good either. Wasn’t it barely ten years ago that we gave John Mahama the opportunity to showcase what he could do for Ghana and he failed woefully? in fact, he left us with an economy saddled with depleted foreign reserves, mounting domestic and foreign debts, and dumsor. My question is this, when did the dead goat get its life back for us to consider it again? So now, we are pressed between the rock and a hard surface. Bawumia is not good and the alternative is worse so where do we turn to? As a nation, if we have anything to vent our anger on, then it should be the constitution of Ghana which has produced this national predicament. This is all the more reason why the Constitution must be set aside and replaced with a better and more functional constitution that gives the president less powers and strengthen our institutions.

Indeed for Ghana to function properly, we need a constitution that can guarantee among others the following:

1. The rank and file of the police force must have the power to vote to elect the IGP from possible commissioners.
2. The chief justice must also be elected by members of the Ghana bar association from among interested contestants.
3. The president must appoint only his ministers and DCEs and not CEOs of public institutions.
4. There must be a cap on the number of ministers that any president can appoint.
5. The electoral commission must not be appointed by the president but by an alternative arrangement.

These and others that aim at strengthening our institutions must be the hallmarks of any new constitution to guarantee effective and accountable governance. Now, how we achieve this new and workable constitution is a million dollar question that requires answers from all Ghanaians because the constitution in its present form favors only the politicians and they wouldn’t want to change it. Asking the beneficiaries of this current constitution to change it is tantamount to asking the lion to sign a non aggression pact with all other animals in the jungle. She simply won’t do it because she would be signing her death warrant. Let us rise to the occasion and bring better governance structures upon ourselves.