Building A Strong And Viable Democracy

One of the strong points of a liberal Western democratic political system is the prevalence of freedom of leadership and programmes within the context of a multi-party political dispensation.

It is held sacred in this system that the recruitment of political leadership at the national, regional and local levels, as well as visions and programmes to guide the affairs of society for a specific period, will be regulated by the laws of the system.

Elections, held within specified periods by accredited bodies mandated, recognised and respected by all parties, become both the established and accepted means for the recruitment of political leadership.

This generally takes the form of either the retention of the incumbent leadership or the recruitment of a new leadership, indicating the loss of confidence in the old system and its leaders by majority of the people.

Such freedom of choice, among others, allows the electorate to take responsibility for their choices and position themselves to exert pressure on those entrusted with power to act in a way that promotes and enhances their interests and aspirations.

It is, therefore, not a matter of surprise that in this system, premium is placed on the exercise of the civil and political rights of the individual, to the exclusion or demotion of the individual's economic, social and cultural rights.

It is not contentious to assert that since 1992, Ghanaians have agreed or accepted to return to a governance system regulated by a Constitution.

Elections which have been the means for overseeing this desire have already been carried out successfully five regular and uninterrupted times, with the sixth slated for next year.

It, therefore, comes as a matter of little surprise that majority of Ghanaians now prefer elections to any other method of selecting their leaders, as contained in Afro Barometer surveys.

According to the Head of the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, Legon, Dr Kwesi Jonah, greater numbers of the electorate had confidence in the Electoral Commission's (EC's) management of the electoral system.

It cannot be denied that the competent, impartial, firm and progressive manner in which the EC has managed the country's elections for the past one and a half decades has greatly contributed to the consolidation of democracy in the country.

From the use of opaque ballot boxes, paper voter slips to delays in the declaration and certification of results, the EC has moved fast and progressively to the use today of transparent ballot boxes, colour photo identity cards, adequate representation of all candidates at all polling stations across the country to proper certification and early declaration of results at the polling station level.

Indeed, plans are far advanced for the EC, with support from the government, to utilise a biometric register to conduct next year's presidential and parliamentary elections.

This latter development and others are designed to produce a more credible and reliable voters register, a higher degree of efficiency by electoral staff, greater involvement of stakeholders in the electoral process, the unhindered prevalence of the true will of the electorate in the elections, among others.

It should also not be forgotten that the enviable image the EC has carved for itself is largely due to the high level of integrity, incorruptibility, fairness and dedication to duty exhibited by its Chairman, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Djan.

This, undoubtedly, has contributed to making Ghana a beacon of democracy and hope in a sub-region riddled with widespread electoral malpractice and disputes.

These are gains we regard as enviable and hard-won and which we must all work to collectively safeguard and protect.