Former Executive Vice-President of Global Markets at Unilever, Mr Yaw Nsarkoh, has issued some alarming critiques of the country’s current political culture, describing it as a “Santa Claus Democracy”.
According to him, the current system of politics in the country is plagued by over-monetisation, shallow electoral cycles, and eroding civic purpose.
Speaking at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences’s occasional lecture 2025, on the theme “Iniquities of Iniquity in Our Santa Claus Democracy”, Mr Nsarkoh lamented how the democratic process has devolved into what he called a “public auction for the highest bidder”, where the electorate is reduced to mere ballots rather than active participants in governance.
“When politics becomes a high-cost, cyclical, and over-monetised ritual, citizens cease to matter as sovereign voices. Instead, they are bribed and swayed with gifts during elections by politicians who vanish soon after,” he said. “What results is not true democracy, but a transactional machine that rewards patronage and punishes principle.”
He argued that the expectation for elected officials to frequently attend social events such as funerals, naming ceremonies, and festivals bearing gifts, despite their modest official salaries, encourages a short-term, expedient style of governance that is incompatible with serious, long-term development.
“The people extract their pound of flesh this way,” he noted, “and what is born is a politics that delivers nothing enduring but thrives on appearance and largesse.”
Mr. Nsarkoh warned that over-monetisation of governance undermines the very fabric of democratic institutions.
He stated that this erosion is not exclusive to democracy alone, but weakens any system of governance, be it socialism, capitalism, or even dictatorship.
Citing troubling statistics, he pointed out that over 6.9 million Ghanaians live in extreme poverty, roughly 20% of the population. The housing deficit stands at nearly two million units, while 18% of the population still practises open defecation, in stark contrast to countries like Rwanda, where it has been almost eradicated. Ghana’s protein intake, he added, is 30% lower than the average of OECD countries.
He also remarked on the nation’s increasing religiosity amid economic despair, noting that church attendance has risen from 60% in 2000 to 72% in 2025. “We may not have much Abɛnkyi, but we certainly have plenty Hallelujah,” he observed pointedly.
Drawing from the late management scholar Sumantra Ghoshal’s concept of the “smell of the place”, Mr Nsarkoh described Ghana’s current political atmosphere as one where decay and dysfunction have replaced idealism and accountability.
He concluded by invoking the words of African philosopher Paulin Hountondji, stressing the importance of fostering open, inclusive dialogue in order to rebuild democratic legitimacy and reclaim the soul of governance.
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