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Ghanaians complain a lot about how bad our politicians are but rarely do you see Ghanaians questioning we keep producing people we are only going to hate in power.
In Ghana, politicians are the common person’s least favourite people yet we cannot cut ourselves from these bunch and rarely do we ask ourselves why we produce so many bad people who get to have power.
It is almost as if we think that when people have power, somehow, they should be better human beings than us. We do not look at the conditions that produced the person.
Civic morality or the do’s and dont’s of citizenship in democracy requires that we should be interested in what sort of human beings we are training from home. But we do not care.
Here are some concrete reasons why Ghanaians seem likely to continue to produce an overwhelming number of bad politicians.
1. Poor democratic culture
We still do not understand that democracy is more than elections and law courts.
We are failing to learn that democracy requires a set of attitudes and beliefs.
We push into power, people who make us hate the other side more when they themselves have no clear vision or purpose for wanting power.
We come together to kick down institutions of state when our parties are in or out of power.
2. We are struggling to dream of a Ghana that works for the majority
When your differences in opinion with others forces you to first save and defend “your people”, then the country is doomed.
Politicians have realised that we are not interested in understanding ourselves and coming to conclusions that work for all of us.
They have seen that you are willing to defend your political party more than the interests of the majority of Ghanaians.
3. We allow politicians to get away with the religion card
Religion is a powerful tool for organisation that makes people feel like they are part of something great.
Why do you think every Ghanaian president since John Atta Mills wants you to know that they are a “strong Christian”? We do not look at our problems scientifically and systematically.
We choose to see spirituality everywhere and think that our elected presidents are “God’s anointed”.
4. We do not know the job of the politician
This is rather a strange thing to say but a good number of Ghanaians think the job of politicians is to have power.
The job of a politician is to serve our interests and never to be our rulers.
Are you ready to come together to force politicians to listen by protesting and making their lives uncomfortable until they are accountable?
