The Life Or Death Of NPP’s Democracy

According to Ralf Dahrendorf, the life and death of democracy is an unusual and extraordinary magnum opus by a notable scholar and author. It is unusual in tracing the history not just of ideas but democratic institutions, and extraordinary in its range.

This German scholar cum politician was previewing a book by an Australian professor of politics, Professor John Keane titled “The Life and Death of Democracy” which he authored and the United States of America's version was published in 2009.

Like most notable thinkers who have only but laudable thumbs up for the form of government known as democracy which Abraham Lincoln defined as the government of the people by the people and for the people, the University of Westminster Professor of politics in this scholarly book eulogized the concept of democracy.

For this professor, democracy was “born of resistance to tyranny, the (Greek's) claimed invention at first caused no great stir. Few spotted its novelty. Some condemned it for bringing chaos into the world. Nobody predicted its universal appeal. It seemed simply to be part of the great cycle of human affairs- yet one more example of power struggles among foes.”

This erudite scholar also expounded in his book that in a democracy those who exercise power should be prevented from bullying others, threatening them with violence, pushing and pulling them into different shapes, as if they are mere clay in the hands of the potters or as (as Aristotle like to say) “ they are mere pawn on the chess board”.

His words: "the prickliness of democracies towards elected and unelected representatives is encouraged by the fact that democracy thrives on separations. In monitory democracies, for instance, everything seems disconnected: civil society from government, representatives from those whom they represent, executives from legislatures, majorities from minorities, civil power from military and police power, parties from voters, experts from laypeople, consumers from producers, journalists from audiences, the young from the old, workers from capitalists, lawyers from clients, doctors from patients".

Both government and civil society are internally fragmented in democracy, so says the University teacher of politics. These multiple, crisscrossing separations are necessary conditions of citizens’ equal freedom from concentration of power.

Democracies he says, try hard to take the sting out of imperiousness. They resist the call for social unity and political concord. Those who wield power are reminded constantly of their (potential) powerlessness. They are kept permanently on their toes by the push-pull dynamics set in train by differences.

Last year a certain senior lecturer who teaches political science at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) went overboard and sounded like a peasant farmer with no former education when he told the Ghanaian media that he is opposed to the notion of rule of law that would regard alleged offenders as being innocent in the eye of the law until proven guilty.

The title of this piece therefore is derived from the book with the same name by Professor John Keane, the Australian-born united kingdom based writer and researcher and this is to remind the current administration in New Patriotic Party at all levels that since what we profess to practice is democracy they don’t have the leeway to tinker with principles of this novel way of administering justice.

Those elected and inaugurated to govern New Patriotic Party are constitutionally obliged to play by the rules of the game and must never be allowed to deviate to the practice of tyranny which is absolutely antithetical to the underlying principles of democracy anchored on the respect for rule of law, respect for the fundamental human rights of all and sundry and institutional building for good governance. Besides, the constitution provides for clear separation of powers by all the three layers of political administration to avoid fusing absolute power into the hands of a single ruler.

The 1992 constitution of the New Patriotic Party (as amended) embodies some of the essential elements/provisions that must be complied with totally by all authorities and persons to guarantee smooth implementation of good governance and there are critical safeguards against arbitrariness on the side of the Flagbearer.

Article 4 (5) b provides as follows: “Proceeding of a Disciplinary Committee SHALL be held in camera and shall be conducted in accordance with the Rules of Natural Justice based on the principles of democracy and social justice.”

It therefore follows that those holding political offices must be careful not to fall into the temptation of dictatorship and tyranny. The New Patriotic Party’s constitution recognize tenure limitations for elected Flagbearer and Party Officers and this is to remind them that political power is transient and that the ordinary people who put them into offices democratically must as of necessity be given the opportunity to vote in their choice citizens as political offices at intervals.

Persons holding political offices do this at the discretion of the voters who owns the Party. The saying that 'no condition is permanent' or the other saying amongst soldiers that 'soldier go, soldier come but barrack remains' typifies the temporary nature of political offices whose occupant get their legitimacy and authority from the people of New Patriotic Party.

The best way to guarantee the life of New Patriotic Party’s democracy is for officials of the party to resist the urge to undermine constitutionalism and respect for the rule of law. Those urging Akufo Addo to disregard these time tested and honoured constitutional principles at the altar of opportunistic chase/pursuit and persecution of perceived political opponents in the guise of anti-graft war are only misleading the administration and inevitably if the Flagbearer disregards the constitutional provisions that guarantees separation of powers it therefore follows that the demise of democracy becomes imminent.

In going about carrying out the fight against all corrupt practices, those heading the respective committees of law enforcement such as the National Executive Committee must be immune from Flagbearer interferences and the only way to ensure that this happens and the anti-graft mechanisms are seen as completely non-factional is for the Delegates Congress to make legislative safeguards against all executive interference so the wheel of democracy is allowed to run constitutionally. The Delegates Congress owe the people the duty to make good laws that would guarantee respect for the sanctity of rule of law and respect for the human rights of all New Patriotic Party members.

Elsewhere, relations between elected and appointed officials have to be clarified if we are to serve the country party well. Constitutionally there are limits to powers of each of the three tiers of members but that should not mean the leadership should fold its arms and close its eyes to what is going on in the party at all levels. Not least the operations of the party accounts.

Leadership must ensure that the gross corruption within the party is checked. As far as the constitution allows me I will try to ensure that there is responsible and accountable leadership at all levels of the party.

However there is a considerable atmosphere of mutual suspicions that the current leadership has embarked on scotch earth large scale witch-hunt of factional opponents in the guise of prosecuting key party officials of misbehavior relating to the operations of the office of the National Executive Officers.

Even before letting the accused persons have their days with the committee as prescribed by the constitution, key party officials including Akufo Addo have demonized all those accused and the media has made caricature of these accused persons and the propaganda circulating is that the National Officers of NPP was made up of moles.

All lovers of democracy must join hands to stop the drift from democracy to autocracy in New Patriotic Party and we must give justice to all irrespective of political or Ethno Religious affiliations. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) stated rightly thus:" if justice be taken away, what are governments but great bands of robbers".

New Patriotic Party members have a choice: to choose between the death and life of democracy. For me and my family we have chosen the LIFE OF NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY’S DEMOCRACY.

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