Ghanaian-born Diplomat and Africa Human Development expert Dr. Ishmael Nii Amanor Dodoo has said that the 2024 elections present the opportunity for the country Ghana to be returned to the people through policies and strategies that will put the ownership of the major sectors of the economy in the hands of Ghanaians.
He noted that even though it is common knowledge that democracy simply means government of the people, by the people and for the people, the essence of the people is starkly missing in Ghana’s politics currently.
According to him, the result of the status quo is the situation where power, particularly in Africa, is used for the good of a few rather than for the people from which it is derived.
He explained that the root word for democracy is a Greek word “Demokratia”, which is a phenomenon constructed and owned by citizens, adding that it was a way to posit the power of the people as the most formidable force for good and “Politics was nothing more than an idea created by the Greek society to help organise power to benefit society, and not just a select few as we see in most African countries”.
“I believe it is now time for us to now chart a transitional path for renewal and transformation of our country Ghana. The politics to shape our next election in 2024 must place back the centrality of the essence of the people in our democracy,” he said.
Dr. Dodoo has some very practical and attainable ideas on how this can be done within the first four years after the 2024 elections to ensure that both political and economic power rest with and benefit the greater majority of Ghanaians, rather than a few politicians and the cronies in the private sector.
Firstly, he said there is a need for the minds of Ghanaians to be disabused of the wrong notion that their destinies are in the hands of politicians and that everything rises and falls on those in political office.
“We need to raise the consciousness of all segments of Ghanaian society that politicians don’t define who we should be, what we should become, and how our aspirations for life must be achieved. Rather, the opposite is true; that it is we – the people – who define what we ought to be and become. In other words, the power to meet all of our desires and aspirations for Ghana and as Ghanaians rest in the hands of we the citizens.”
According to him, this is a fundamental truth that should shape the belief systems of Ghanaians, adding that simply put, “the power belongs to the people”.
Dr. Dodoo also said there is a need for Ghanaians to resoundingly, with one heart and mind, engage the upcoming campaign and processes toward the 2024 elections to shape it for the benefit of all citizens. This, he explained, means that Ghanaians need to define what their interests are and take steps to ensure that those interests take centre-stage in the politics of the country right from now, through the campaign period and throughout the term of whoever wins power.
He suggested a number of things that Ghanaians should demand of whoever takes over the organised power of the people via the ballot box as follows:
Education
- There should be no school under trees. All schools – primary through JHS to SHS – must have quality classroom infrastructure. Importantly, we should make our education future-proof and fit for purpose. With the world going digital and businesses leaning toward sophisticated skills and competences, we cannot afford not to make all schools possess the minimum foundation for digital learning and education.
This means that we should not just remove school from under trees, but they must also have smart classroom infrastructure; such that Sempe School Block at Bukom in Odododiodoo Constituency must be fit for purpose for the future as much as schools in Savelugu Nanton to Pwalugu and Bawku.
Self sufficiency
- We the people must demand that we no longer import 90 percent of all we eat, drink, wear and sleep on! The era of unwise imports are over. We should aim to fix our agriculture and manufacturing sectors, such that we grow what we eat and eat what we grow. We must take ownership of the development prospects of the country to the extent that our carpenters, plumbers, engineers, etc. must shape our nation-building agenda. This approach will produce several hundreds of thousands of jobs that will make our citizens invaluable to nation-building.
Leadership accountability
- Thirdly, we – the people – must set the standards for our politics. And the standards must be as high as it is ethical. We must interrogate who want to lead us – President, MPs, District Assembly, Mayors, etc. We need to know what inspires those who aspire to hold public offices. We must ask them what they have achieved in life that makes them want to lead us. Can they share a vision of purpose? And for those who are re-seeking new mandates, what moral justification do they have to warrant another opportunity.
We – the people – must demand accountability for the existing power in their hands to warrant another. Can they commit and publicly sign a social contract of no corruption in public office. Can they vouch for their character? The power belongs to the people and must not be given freely and easily.
Dr. Dodoo is of the firm belief that until Ghanaians take the foregoing serious and make demands on those in political office, rather than remaining polarised and following politicians blindly for selfish interests, the transformational leadership required for Ghana to leapfrog its development challenges will remain a mirage.
