In Africa, Democracy is the Gov't of the Politicians by the Politicians for the Politicians

By Stanley Seshie

Abraham Lincoln was not just wrong. He was wrong absolutely in

declaring that democracy is the government of the people, by the

people and for the people. How I wish prayer works, so that I can

miraculously resurrect him and serve him the data on democratic

governance in Africa. After which I will relax with a bottle of beer

and sausage as I watch him go tbrough for conclusion. By the time he

finishes he will undoubtedly agree that, he got it wrong - at least in

Africa. In Africa, democracy is the government of the politicians by

the politicians for the politicians. Ghana is no exception. This is

truism to anyone who loves hardcore evidence. Let me illustrate with

an analogy.

A family head that mismanages the financial and material resources of

the family is not only destroying the household, he is equally

destroying himself. Similarly, the servant who misuses the master's

financial and material resources is not only dwindling down the

master's wealth, he is equally destroying himself as he can end up

becoming unemployed or imprisoned. In other words, this family head or

servant will end up becoming poorer materially, financially and

depraved than he started. However, there are group of men called

African politicians who the society mistook for family heads and

servants working for the betterment of the household (Nation) and

their masters (the people).

Yet, unlike the real family heads and servants who shall certainly

become worse off in mismanaging the household's and master's material

and financial resources, these politicians do the same thing and even

on a greater scale and, never went home worse off than they came.

Paradoxically, these politicians practically mismanage the people's

financial and material resources and end up becoming richer

materially, financially and morally emboldened than they came. That is

the reality in Ghana, and Africa for that matter. An Africa politician

is a pseudo-family head and equally a pseudo-servant of the people.

That is who they are. That is the Ghanaian politician. This is truism.

Politics in Ghana is simply which political party mismanages the

nation's resources to enrich themselves and cronies than the other.

Remember it is in the management that the mismanagement appears. So do

not be deceived. The politico-economic thinking of our leaders usually

end up in stage one - would these series of policies make my

government re-electable? It is always about the re-election and not

the teleological development of the nation. An obsession that ensures

their tenure is always full of political decisions than economic ones.

Meanwhile a nation develops when the government takes more economic

decisions than political ones. The question then is not whether any

particular government had done any developmental projects in the

transport, health, agricultural, education among other sectors or not.

That, they all do.

The main question: is the volume and quality of such accomplishments

in the light of the available material and financial resources to the

government realistic in expectation. Economically, progress is doing

more with less. Development rides on prudent economic decisions, not

political decisions. Therefore, with our inumerable resources, these

politicians should have done more than they trumpet and not trumpeting

more than they have done. Of course, progress is so gradual in its

evolution that it risked been overshadowed by any institutional decay.

Nevertheless, if things were efficiently managed no institutional

decay should seriously eclipse the developmental success of any

government. The leadership crisis we all complain about in this

country is but irrationality crisis nobody wants to admit.

In an information age as ours, the distinction between ignorance and

irrationality is more than clear. Ignorance has to do with lack or

absence of information. Irrationality is the misuse or ignoring the

available information that should otherwise inspire a reasonable

action for the betterment of all - or at least the majority. Our

politicians have all the necessary information about the debilitating

existential conditions of the Ghanaian. They also have the data on the

available material and financial resources to use efficiently with the

glued support of the denizens to ameliorate if not eliminate their

unnecessary sufferings.

Yet, not only do they hardheartedly ignore or misuse the information,

they wantonly mismanage the available financial and material resources

as well. That is but irrationality. The irrationality that pervades

the Ghanaian democracy is what is shocking. Accordingly, it is not

being cynical equally declaring, though contrary to Abraham Lincoln,

that, democracy in Africa is the government of the politicians by the

politicians for the politicians. The people just vote. In this

election year, whether by retaining or changing the ruling government,

we are just going to vote. Corruption, mismanagement and

misapproriation are all different manifestation of the same thing:

irrationality of the politician.

Email: seshiehanku@gmail.com

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