Africracy: Case of Ghana

I coined Africacy to mean a system of government of Africans. Is Africa's way of practising democracy i.e. Africa's unique and idiosyncratic method of practising democracy. Hence, the mathematical computational formula is Africa + Democracy = Africracy.

Democracy is practised in Africa but not the way the West practices theirs and considers to be the best way to practise it. Ghana is no exception as we have our unique governmental system that makes meaning to us as our way of democracy.

In Ghana, there is rulership by traditional authorities and modern authorities. Before the land currently known as Ghana was colonized by the British, there were Kingdoms and Chiefdoms governed by Monarchs adhering to all essential tenets of what we know in the modern era as democracy. During the colonial epoch, the British authorities appreciated our rich and good traditional governance system as they recognized it as akin to their own. Hence, they worked with such Monarchs and promoted the system during their rulership of the territory.

After gaining independence, the British regime of rulership was maintained operating alongside the pre-existing traditional governance system. The British regime of governmental machinery was to be driven by non-traditional rulers who are to be elected or appointed to office.

The various Ghanaian constitutions starting with our Independence Constitution of 1957, always duly recognizes the existence of these two categories of authority or rulership in Ghana. Very unique indeed! Both groups of governance systems adhere to all basic principles of democracy to the letter as the world knows it. Each group wields its prerogative of powers over the people and exercises such powers without interference from the other whiles the same time employing cooperative action between the two power groupings. Ghana's way of separation of powers for the world!

Worthy of note that although there is no single Monarch in Ghana there is a Monarchical System in place with a couple of powerful Monarchs from powerful Kingdoms like Ashanti and Dormaa wielding sub-national powers collectively forming a kind of Ghana Monarch.