Dr. Patrick Osei-Kuffour
Dr. Patrick Osei-Kuffuor, a senior research fellow with the Department of Peace Studies and the Vice Dean of the School For Development Studies, University of Cape Coast, has stated that, it's always not advisable to trust political elites in any country.
According to him, trusting political elites is naive and very dangerous for citizens.
He explained that political elites have interest in any political situation and such elites would always ensure their interest are met under any given situation.
Speaking to DC Kwame Kwakye on GBC Radio Central Wednesday, April 26, 2023 and assessing the current happenings in Sudan and how it affects governance and development, he averred that violence derails development and takes years to get back on track.
"Unfortunately, when misunderstanding arises the elites and their combatants normally feel everything should be destroyed just because they want to win", he affirmed.
Addressing what might have occasioned the current misunderstandings in Sudan, he intimated that after the long serving leader, Omar al-Bashir left the scene, agreeing on how to make governance more participatory with civilians triggered the current misunderstanding which has culminated into the current situation.
When asked whether allowing the former leader to stay in office to maintain the peace was better than the current situations, he shared that sometimes such propositions could be made in reference to peace and stability.
"The only problem with such leaders have are that they abuse human rights and suppress descent which isn't also good for democratic governance", he stated.
He further explained that, the major problem regarding the misunderstanding in Sudan is that it has the tendency of spiralling into other countries that share borders with Sudan.
Currently, Sudan shares borders with Libya, Egypt, Chad, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Eritrea.
"All these countries have issues with their leaders and governance and as such if the RSF wins the war, it has the tendency of boosting confidence in the neighbouring countries to also challenge the establishment", he revealed.
Dr. Osei-Kuffuor was of the view that sometimes "The political elites must suppress their personal interest for the larger good of the populace and when that happens most of the conflicts would be resolved and make our continent a better place", he ended.
