Dean of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) Law School, Professor Ernest Kofi Abotsi has called for a change in the way politics is done in Ghana.
He observed that in Ghana, politics is practised in ways that exploit the frustrations of voters for parochial party interests.
In a post on his X page, he said “Ghana’s recent experience at governance shows that sloganeering politics not backed by blueprints fails! It further highlights the need for us to move past divisive politics aimed at exploiting voter frustrations for parochial party interests. Politically driven development is no development.”
Ghana’s recent experience at gov’nce shows that sloganeering politics not backed by blueprints fails! It further highlights the need for us to move past divisive politics aimed at exploiting voter frustrations for parochial party interests. Politically driven dev’t. is no dev’t.
— Prof. E. Kofi Abotsi (@ProfAbotsi) December 26, 2024
Prior to the December 7, 2024 elections, Professor Kofi Abotsi told the electorate in Ghana to go beyond identity politics in choosing leaders.
He argued that identity-based voting is the reason for political non-performance.
“Where parties know that their support is grounded in ethnicity, strongholds and unflinching voter loyalty, they have zero incentive to perform. Voters cannot support poor performance while complaining about it,” he wrote on X.
“In the enterprise of statecraft”, he added “we the ‘choosers’ and the leaders chosen have repeatedly disappointed Ghana.
“Until electors go beyond identity politics, and the elected become patriots, democracy will be nothing more than a 4 -yearly change of batons for sharing the spoils.”
Professor Kofi Abotsi further called for a second look at the winner-takes-all regime in Ghana.
He explained that the winner-takes-all system increases the cost of electoral defeats, a situation that threatens the entire country.
The Winner-Takes-All system of politics is one in which all the candidates who do not emerge victorious in an election receive no authorized role in the politico system of the country, irrespective of the number of votes they obtained in the election and the voices of the citizens they represent.
In a post on his X platform, he said “The cycle & psyche of ‘winner takes all’ increases the cost of electoral loss! It is the reason elections present deathly choices for candidates & followers.
“That threatens us all, and is the reason for a serious rethink of governance, nation-building & elections.”
He further stated that the huge powers vested in the president show that the framers of the 1992 constitution contemplated a ‘philosopher king-wise, knowledgeable, altruistic, competent’.
“For the fractious, acrimonious, and self-seeking people we have been, this has proven to be a tragic miscalculation.”
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