Commentary

We invite commentaries from writers all over. The subject is about Ghana and the world. We reserve the right to accept or reject submissions, but we are not necessarily responsible for the opinions expressed in articles we publish......MORE

        Home
 
 

 

Change the system, tweak the Constitution

E. Ablorh-Odjidja

August 05, 2014

The current political arrangement in Ghana is not working too well. Some are quick to put most of the blame on the nature of our "Imperial Presidency," rather than think that the problem lies with the characters we recruit into the presidency.

 
Effective "Imperial Presidency" works. Unless you are not able to find the right character to fill the office.

 

The imperial, under any description, and in the hands of the right personality, works.

 

 It worked for Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew, Turkey under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Germany under Von Otto Bismarck, America under Franklin D. Roosevelt and many more.


But in Ghana, we pretend the "Imperial Presidency" never worked.

 

That Nkrumah was a deranged baby-sitter and Governor Gordon Guggisburg of the Gold Coast was a mere Boy Scout troop leader.


So we worry about personalities getting into the presidency who were willing to use the power granted by the Constitution effectively, when our real worry should be about the useless pretenders the Constitution allows to be in office for full terms as presidents.


Our current Constitution allows a political arrangement for the presidency, which is much like the American system, and unlike the British system.


In the British parliamentary system, a prime minister's term is not fixed and can be ended by a "no-confidence" vote and/or a call for new elections.


In the American presidential system, "snap-election" is not an option. The president, elected separately from his party members in Congress, has a fixed term of four years; unless he is impeached and forced out of office.


The American fixed system brings stability and predictability to administrations for a set term.

 

It is not a perfect system, but its faults are made tenable by the flexibility of the federal system as state governments could pick up the slack in some aspects of administration when federal leadership fails.


Ghana, though has a copied American system, lacks the sophisticated safety factor within the American federal system.

 

Not only does she lack the federal factor, but there is also a question of an absence of a Congress, within which the political system evolves and checks and balances are provided to rein in powers of key governmental institutions like the presidency.

 

Thus, the copied American system gives Ghana a powerful "imperial" presidency, with not much the check and balances obtained in America.

 

The federal aspect of the American system is also not much of an option; given the threat that tribalism holds for us within our regions.


The fact is, there is nothing wrong with an "imperial presidency" in Ghana if only it is working.

 

It should be noted that the problem arises only when a lackluster leadership gets into office, not when a real "Imperial Presidency" is in place and working; as under Nkrumah and Governor Gordon Guggisberg (yes, he was imperial).

 

But there is a need within our context of an "imperial presidency" for damage control, just in case a bum gets into office and remains at post for at least four years.


Otherwise, why should we care if any president gets into office and is effectively taking care of business during his term allowed by the Constitution?


We have had ample chances for change.  Mostly, we did it with coups and elections. No matter what we did in the past, we never were ale to change the character of our presidency.

 

Both the competent and the incompetent, whether through coups or elections, have had the same access to "imperial" power.

 

Elections, often chaotic and expensive, have been staged and stolen. People have been killed through coups (the most useless type of the changes) and subterfuges.  But we ended moving into the same place of power our bad incompetent chief executives.


The incompetent executives have been corrosive with their ineptitude for change in our political system.


But, why must we as a country suffer an incompetent president for his entire term in office solely on the basis of a mistake?

 

 This must be a root question for the Constitutional reform process.  Critical in this process must also be a requirement  for rule for the president and the party that puts him into office.  And the guard rail for rule are:

 

When a president's regime is overburdened with debt exceeding a given, substantial portion of the GDP.

 

When the cedi exchange rate is falling fast.

 

When the country is beset by infra-structural challenges.

 

When there are mountains of garbage on the streets of our towns and villages.

 

When corruption in the governing party is rampant and persistent.

 

Above all, when a president and his party seem to be clueless in the face of these disasters, it will be time to declare that his regime is in distress and to pull the brake on his term.


The target to go after under this set of conditions is the ineffective president in our "imperial presidency" system, not the effective president under the same.

 

Kufuor had the same "Imperial" presidency recently. He was effective. He was a doer.  Thus when a doer is in office, we leave him alone to do his job, regardless of our differences in ideology.


The call for removal must come as a vote of "no-confidence" from Parliament. The threshold for the vote must be a simple majority, followed by a snap-election.


This call can only be made by Parliament.


The election that follows must be quick, under a decree of emergency. No lengthy campaigning period. No waste of public money. And no party decals and instruments. Just the public and a list of names on the ballot box.


An open canvas for the most competent candidates in the society must be the approach. Candidates can come, with or without political party affiliations.  A Kofi Annan type can be such a non-party affiliated citizen candidate.

 

There should be no room for adventurers or people of mere notoriety.


The challenge will be a referendum between the sitting, incompetent president and all on the ballot. And whereas a challenger may win by a simple majority, the sitting president will require 70% of the vote to keep his presidency.

 

Again, the mission is not against the effective "imperial president," but one to get rid of an incompetent executive.


Some may worry that the simple majority vote threshold required will make it easy for political mischief.

 

Rather, a simple majority provides no certainty for the opposition or the incumbent party's victory. It gives room for the independent minded to be relevant, regardless of their party affiliations.

 

The same president, if perceived as effective, can be returned after victory (70% of the vote) for additional four years in office.

president sitting president.  This is not a provision for political harassment of the executive.


This new approach will allo citizens who otherwise would be made faceless by the rigid party primary system.


However, given the entitlement mindset of our current political activists, this new arrangement will  be resisted.

 

In all probability, there will be attempts by the political class in Parliament to thwart initiatives advanced by the newly installed outsider president.  He would have no party identification or support in a contemporary parliament.


But, such can be expected.  He will have to rule in all instances with the vote of the simple majority.

 

All the public needs to know from the new president is his goal.  That times are desperate and we need to come out of this state.  And that his objectives and goal are meant to do just that..

 

He or she must come to the presidency as a strong leader, which role the "imperial presidency" already allows. And that he has the tools to accomplish his mission.

 

But his ideas must be bold ones like Nkrumah's and still be able to pursue them as respectfully as Kufuor, for example, did with his own plans. 

 

Effective "imperial presidency,"  therefore, is the job requirement, not the problem.  But no more coups, please!

E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Publisher www.ghanadot.com, Washington, DC, August 05, 2014
Permission to publish: Please feel free to publish or reproduce, with credits, unedited. If posted at a website, email a copy of the web page to publisher@ghanadot.com . Or don't publish at all.


 

 
 
 

 

 

 

Ghana's Currency Slump Spurs Increase in Cocoa Smuggling

VOA, Aug 08, Ghanadot - Cocoa beans have been smuggled between Ivory Coast and neighboring Ghana for years. Until recently, Ivorian growers most often illegally sent their cocoa beans into Ghana where the prices were higher and more stable. A recent slump in the Ghanaian currency and political stabilization in Ivory Coast, however, have tipped the balance. Ghanaian farmers are now the ones who smuggle their beans into Ivory Coast, where they get more money for them.......More

 

 

Ghana Gas project now 99.78% complete

Ghanaweb, Aug 08, Ghanadot - After seven years since the discovery of oil and gas reserves, Ghana's gas infrastructure will be ready for commissioning this August, the Ghana National Gas company has said...The gas project which has been punctuated by delays and postponements is now 99.78% ready....More

 

   

Ghana Signs New MCC Agreement Of $498 million to Help Improve Energy Sector

GBC, Aug 06, Ghanadot - The Ghana Power Compact is expected to catalyze more than $4 billion in private energy investment and activity from American and global energy firms in the coming years.....support improved management of Ghana�s entire power system, providing a more robust framework for private investment as well as a more competitive process for the procurement of power from independent producers.......More

 

 

 

 

Obama announces $33bn in commitments for Africa

News24, Aug 06, Ghanadot - President Barack Obama announced $33bn in commitments on Tuesday aimed at shifting US ties with Africa beyond humanitarian aid and toward more equal economic partnerships.t..........More

 

   
  ABC, Australia
FOXNews.com
The EastAfrican, Kenya
African News Dimensions
Chicago Sun Times
The Economist
Reuters World
CNN.com - World News
All Africa Newswire
Google News
The Guardian, UK
Africa Daily
IRIN Africa
The UN News
Daily Telegraph, UK
Daily Nation, East Africa
BBC Africa News, UK
Legal Brief Africa
The Washington Post
BusinessInAfrica
Mail & Guardian, S. Africa
The Washington Times
Voice of America
CBSnews.com
New York Times
Vanguard, Nigeria
Christian Science Monitor
News24.com
Yahoo/Agence France Presse
 
  SPONSORSHIP AD HERE  
 
    Announcements
Debate
Commentary
Ghanaian Paper
Health
Market Place
News
Official Sites
Pan-African Page
Personalities
Reviews
Social Scene
Sports
Travel
 
    Currency Converter
Educational Opportunities
Job Opening
FYI
 

 

 

 
Send This Page To A Friend: