Democracy isn’t only about talking - Prof. Baah

Head of the Political Science Department at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Prof. Amoako Baah claims the meaning of democracy has been displaced and that most Ghanaians understood the concept to mean "having the chance to counter and rubbish arguments raised by a political opponent." 

Such debates, according to him, offers the public no room to deeply think through issues but only to accept arguments of persons perceived to share the same political ideas he or she holds.

“Democracy isn’t only about talking, we (Ghanaians) have limited it to only debates- but there are essential elements attached to it. There are politicians who lie in the name of democracy. But democracy has principles; there is separation of powers, accountability. However in Ghana, people sit on radio and do partisan politics and end up confusing the listener,” Prof. Amoako Baah decried.

He then stated that the whole process of governance has been reduced to a private business by politicians who use the process to milk the state. He proposed that to check such calamities, parliament must be allowed to perform their watchdog role over the executive and scrutinize budgets presented to them by the executive branch.

Prof. Amoako Baah however observed in an interview with Peace FM during the station's Midday bulletin that the presence of some executive members working in parliament dilutes their power and makes it harder for them to check the president.

He also called for a cancelation of the ritual of always allowing the majority in the house to always have their way through voting. He observed that such ‘customary’ attitude, reduces the august house to a “rubber stamp”.