IDEG organises second 2010 Ghana Speaks Lectures on Wednesday

Accra, May 11, GNA - The Institute for Democratic Governance (lDEG) would hold the second of its 2010 Ghana Speaks Lectures on Wednesday, May 12, 2010, at the Alisa Hotel, North Ridge in Accra. A statement issued in Accra on Tuesday said the lecture would be under the topic: "Managing Competitive Politics: The Winner Takes All Rule, Democracv and Development". The lecture is an effort by IDEG to promote critical assessment of the theory and practice of the winner-takes-all rule and its relevance to the strengthening of national cohesion and accelerated development of the country.

"We believe that the exercise would also generate constructive ideas for reforming and improving the practice of inclusive democratic governance in Ghana," the statement said.

It would have an audience drawn from the political parties, Parliament, Ministers of State, Council of State, Public Servants, diplomatic community, traditional authorities, academia, media, civil society, private sector and other interested publics. The statement said: "Our expectation is that the lecture and the discussions that follow would spur an informed and enlightened debate throughout the country on a subject that is not only topical but continues to cause great anxiety in the Ghanaian electorate". Although an age-old practice, the winner-takes-all rule has recently stirred mixed emotions and generated intense debate as its application to democratic governance in the Fourth Republic have had more negative than positive effects.

The political transitions of 2001 and 2009 portrayed the winner- takes-all rule of politics in particularly negative light as divisive and harmful to inclusive governance.

Some argue that in practice the winner-takes-all rule promotes exclusionary and retributive politics that needlessly intensifies political tension in the country and undermines national cohesion. Others postulate that the winner-takes-all rule shows poor strategic judgment and mismanagement of developed human capital in the top echelons of government and the public sector. It consequently nurtures a culture of sub-optimal achievement national development goals.

Another view maintains that the winner-takes-all rule essentially registers the alternation of power between an elected government and an outgoing government. "Although harsh, the rule can be applied by all political parties that win", the statement added. Professor L. Adele Jinadu, University of Lagos, Nigeria, will deliver the lecture with Professor Akilagpa Sawyerr, Member of the Council of State, as Moderator and Mr. Kwame Planim, Senior citizen and Statesman, as discussant.

Prof. Jinadu is an internationally renowned political scientist and former member of National Electoral Commission of Nigeria. He is also a member of Nigerian National Governing Council of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and served on the ECOWAS Election monitored teams during which he monitored Ghana's 2006 elections. A Fulbright scholar and a graduate of Oxford University, U.K., Professor Jinadu was once the Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences at Lagos State University. He has extensive research experience having served on the editorial boards of several reputable journals including the Journal for Democracy in Africa, African Journal of Political Science and the International Political Science Review. 11 May 10