A few centuries ago, long before the white man came to these shores, our forebears lived in communities led by chiefs, priests and kings. And the king’s word was law. That’s the origin of African Democracy.
Majority is power. Winner takes all. The king has his favourites at court and no special prosecutor is allowed anywhere near him less he beats a path leading into the king’s chamber and discovers all the valuables of the state stashed away in a pot for one clan out of 100 and a few cronies to live on for generations.
The Acropolis, Westminster and Capitol Hill may be the originators, shapers and exporters of democracy, but the brand we practice in Ghana and many other African countries was forged in the image of African Traditional Rulership.
The chief or king is not elected. Most ascend their thrones, stools or skins just because they belong to a particular clan, family or knew enough of the power brokers in the land. Some party lynchpins will never become party leaders.
A king rules forever, and that’s what the Gnassigbe clan and Alpha Condes are all about. Ridiculous.
He has elders all right, but he is at liberty to ignore their advice and do his will.
Why do we even pay council of state members these eye watering sums of money? Are we that rich? Do we even need a council of state? How does it contribute to the development of this country? What advices are they giving the president or they are as incompetent as he is? Like attracts like, you know?
Government appointees generally reflect their leadership. The twerp who is against any budget allocation for the Keta Sea Defence Project is an appointee of the president who asked a chief to go and complete an abandoned project in his community.
The king always know best and if he decides to jet around the world in an expensive metal, who cares? All you peasants can do is to talk and cry yourself to sleep. Poor souls.
Do you want to know what made our government office holders traditional rulers who are allowed to steal as much public money as they can in addition to the ridiculous sums of money they get paid while things fall apart around us?
The Constitution.
What to do about it? Fix it. But to do that you need to get rid of the duopoly. They won’t change or fix something that benefits them. We must.
