Whose Democracy? Is Ghana’s Democracy Working for Citizens—or for NPP and NDC?

Ghana is rightly proud of its democracy. For more than three decades, we have held elections, changed governments peacefully, maintained a vibrant media and allowed opposition parties and citizens to criticize those in power.

That is an achievement worth protecting.

But perhaps we have celebrated the success of our elections for so long that we have avoided a more difficult question:

Is Ghana's democracy actually working for ordinary Ghanaians, or is it increasingly working for the two major political parties—the NPP and NDC?

The recent NPP “Democracy Under Attack” demonstration provides an opportunity to ask this question.

The NPP has every democratic right to demonstrate. If the party believes there is selective justice, political persecution or abuse of state institutions, those concerns deserve to be heard.

But citizens should also ask:

Whose democracy is under attack?

Is it the democracy of the market woman, teacher, farmer, nurse, unemployed graduate and struggling small-business owner?

Or is it mainly the political interests and protection of politicians and their parties?

When Government Changes, the Language Changes

Ghanaian politics has become painfully predictable.

When NPP is in opposition, it warns about abuse of power, selective justice, corruption and threats to democracy.

When NDC is in opposition, we hear many of the same complaints.

Then elections come. Power changes hands. And remarkably, the language often changes too.

Yesterday's defenders of government institutions become their critics. Yesterday's critics become their defenders.

This raises an uncomfortable question:

Are we defending democracy—or defending our turn to control political power?

This is not an NPP problem alone. It is not an NDC problem alone.

It is becoming a Ghanaian political problem.

Who Demonstrates for the Ordinary Ghanaian?

There is another question worth asking.

When senior politicians believe they are being treated unfairly, political parties can quickly organize press conferences, demonstrations and public campaigns.

But where is that same urgency when ordinary citizens suffer?

Where are the massive demonstrations over graduate unemployment?

Where is the sustained political outrage when illegal mining destroys our rivers and farmlands?

Where is the national mobilization when hospitals lack essential resources, children study under poor conditions, businesses struggle, public projects are abandoned and corruption takes money away from development?

These issues affect millions of people.

Yet Ghana's political temperature often rises highest when politicians themselves are affected.

Why?

Democracy Must Put Food on the Development Table

Democracy is bigger than elections.

For the ordinary Ghanaian, democracy should eventually produce jobs, justice, opportunity, good education, healthcare, security, accountable leadership and improving living standards.

We cannot continue measuring democratic success mainly by how peacefully we vote NPP out and NDC in—or NDC out and NPP in.

That proves that Ghana can change governments.

But has it sufficiently proved that democracy can change people's lives?

If governments continue alternating while unemployment, corruption, poor public services and economic insecurity remain persistent, we must seriously consider whether Ghana has developed a strong electoral democracy without an equally strong developmental democracy.

One Question Should Guide Us

Ghanaians need to change the way we judge politics.

Instead of asking:

“Is this good for NPP?”

or

“Is this good for NDC?”

we should ask:

“Is this good for Ghana and the Ghanaian citizen?”

Does a government policy improve people's lives?

Does a prosecution strengthen justice for everybody?

Does a demonstration seek reforms that will protect every citizen—or primarily party officials?

Does an appointment reward competence or party loyalty?

Does public spending create genuine value for citizens?

And there is one question every political party should be required to answer:

Will you defend this same principle when you return to power?

Because a democratic principle is not really a principle if you believe in it only when you are in opposition.

If NPP believes certain government powers can be abused today, let it propose reforms limiting those powers—and accept those same limitations when it returns to government.

If NDC condemns a particular practice while in opposition, it should not embrace that practice after winning an election.

Ghana needs institutions whose principles do not change depending on whether the elephant or umbrella occupies Jubilee House.

We Citizens Are Not Innocent Either

We cannot put everything on politicians.

Citizens also contribute to the problem.

We condemn corruption but sometimes offer money to officials when we want something done quickly.

We complain about vote-buying but accept gifts from politicians.

We demand merit but sometimes expect jobs and opportunities for our relatives, friends, ethnic groups or party supporters.

And perhaps most damaging of all, we sometimes defend behaviour from “our party” that we would loudly condemn if the other party did exactly the same thing.

We are becoming party citizens before Ghanaian citizens.

That must change.

Ghana Needs Citizens' Democracy

Ghana must move beyond NPP democracy and NDC democracy toward citizens' democracy.

Winning an election does not give a political party ownership of Ghana. It gives that party temporary responsibility to manage the country on behalf of its people.

Opposition should also mean more than waiting for the government to fail so that another party can return to power.

Imagine if NPP and NDC competed fiercely over who could create more jobs, improve education, modernize agriculture, strengthen healthcare, industrialize Ghana, protect our environment and reduce corruption.

That is the political competition Ghana needs.

After more than three decades of the Fourth Republic, we have largely answered one important question:

Can democracy change governments peacefully?

Yes.

Now comes the harder question:

Can democracy change the lives of ordinary Ghanaians?

So when any political party tells us that democracy is under attack, perhaps citizens should ask:

Whose democracy?

And when NPP or NDC asks Ghanaians to defend democracy, we should respectfully ask them:

What exactly are you defending for the ordinary Ghanaian?

Democracy cannot simply be about deciding whether NPP or NDC controls government for the next four years.

It must be about whether the farmer, teacher, trader, student, nurse, entrepreneur, worker and unemployed graduate can see meaningful improvement in their lives.

Ghana has proved that democracy can change governments.

Now we must prove that democracy can change lives.

Isaac Yaw Asiedu PhD
Author: Shifting Mindsets for Sustainable Development in Africa: Political Economy Perspective
Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK 2025
https://rethinkingafrica.org

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