Winner-Take-All: The silent cause of Ghana's underdevelopment

Last night I was discussing some political issues in Ghana on Akwaaba FM Online here in Woodbridge, Virginia. Different callers to the station took different positions on the exact political system that would serve Ghana best. One of the callers suggested that the situation where the winner party takes all the positions of power in the country is the cause of the culture and institutionalization of corruption in the motherland.

The discussion heightened my curiosity about what exactly is the meaning of this 'Winner-Take-All'? Co-incidentally, this has become a hot topic among politicians and political commentators in the country at the moment Fiifi Kwetey, P V Obeng, Pres. Mahama among others have all alluded to this idea lately. I have not been able to establish a clear definition for this neuvo political theory. I am, however tempted to define this newly invented system to mean a government of national unity which brings together all the feuding parties into one unitary government often under one president.

This system is normally established as an alternative to fighting and killing due some elections disputes. This arrangement is a common feature on the Afrikan continent. Zimbabwe is an example. I am not sure if the aforementioned gentlemen like to see a government in which all parties are represented at the various ministries and at the various levels of power in the country or they are just making these propositions due to their fear about the impending Supreme Court ruling scheduled for August 29. I do not believe that a government of national unity is the recipe for a good government.

Often the unity government is under one chief executive (president) who still has the power to fire and appoint. Even though the appointees may be from different political persuasions, because the president still retains the power to appoint and fire, people tends to dance to his rhythms. This does not support independent, innovative ideas. This type of government would be no different than say NDC or NPP in power because it is only one president directing all political activities of the nation and these manifests in every aspect of the nation's life. I personally do not like this type of arrangement.

A solid way and approach to avoiding this winner-take-all phenomenon is to make the necessary constitutional amendments that would guarantee that certain key political positions in the country are elected by their people. In order that political power could be properly shared, regional ministers, mayors, DCEs should be elected. Also police chiefs in the various regions be independent of the IGP. The office of the IGP itself must be abolished and the autonomous police force would come under the administrative powers of the minister of interior. A person who is elected by his people would first seek to do what the people want because of the dreaded 'kokromotie-power' (votes). Because the politician is the maker of his/her own fortunes he tends to be innovative and responds to the needs of the governed.

As Thomas Jefferson said 'When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny'. In the USA the president is elected, the state governors are elected, mayors are elected, county supervisors are elected and even at the very local level where administration of elementary, middle and high schools take place, the supervisors are elected. Somewhere in the mid-2000s at Ghana embassy in Washington DC, a question was put to then president JA Kuffour about when the above-mentioned positions would be elected. Kufuor said Ghana was not politically matured enough for such a proposal. I have read similar comments from politicians from the Ghanaian news media. I deem such comments as infantile. After practicing democracy for over 20 years, how mature do these people want the country to get before the proper governance mechanisms are put in place? Do these politicians really have the wellbeing of the nation at heart?

The Ghanaian politician likes the status quo because it accords them an umbrella under which a culture of graft and impunity thrives. The constitution itself has lots of flaws and after so many years of democracy, the politicians should have realized those flaws. A classic example is the role of the Ghanaians in the Diaspora that have been limited by the constitution. We the diasporas send billions of dollars every year to support Ghana's economy. According to some estimates (corrections welcome), we send home over US$2billions every year. We have acquired technical, administrative as well as political skills that the country needs but there are so many political positions that our dual-citizenships do not allow us to contest for or access. I can say this for a fact that most of the people ruling the country now have no idea how to govern.

They may have a degree or two but they lack the necessary exposure and experiences to handle the office efficiently. I remember when Kofi Jumah became the mayor of Kumasi, he started with a lot of ideas and everybody wanted to listen to him on radio shows. After a while, his masters at the Castle prevailed on him and he was never the same again. I used to work with a guy from Ghana at the Dulles International Airport. The guy used to rap me about the corrupt nature of Ghanaians and Africans in general. He made a case of one honest man who was appointed to head the Ministry of Foreign Affair's passport office.

According to him, this man's honesty prevented the people around him from stealing money and for that reason was not able to hold his office for long as his subordinates undermined him. I told my friend that it is not the people that are corrupt but rather it the porous nature of the system within which they govern which facilitates the behavior. As one wise man said 'No one is born bad, but society makes him so'. I suggested to (apologies to Philip Addison) my friend that if we have at least three passport offices in every region of Ghana where people can go and easily obtain their passports, there would be no stampede to make passports. It is so mind boggling to wrap one's mind around why a nation of some 24 million has only one passport office in Accra. This set-up simply breeds corruption, period!

If we want our country to move away from this corruption cancer into an era of good governance, probity and accountability (sorry JJ Rawlings), then we need to make the necessary constitutional changes to make most political office elective and accommodate the expertise of the Ghanaian in the Diaspora. By so doing we would properly fulfill the call for all-inclusive-government and increase checks and balances in the system for the good. I rest my case.

By Kwasi Amoakohene; [email protected]