Political Scientist and Director of Centre for European Studies at the University of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante, has revealed that one of the things that go against democratic systems is the issue of corruption.
According to him, democracy when instituted rightly, yields the expected “dividends” for any country. He indicated that when a country begins to have the “evils of democracy rearing their ugly heads” in a democratic system, it creates a problem and one of such problems is democratic reversals.
Dr Asah-Asante explained that when democratic reversals occur, people tend to believe that democracy is not what it is and will not develop to give the dividends that they so desire to have.
“What it bodes for us is that, we are undermining the very democracy that we have struggled over the years to develop and nurture. One of the things that go against democratic systems is the issue of corruption because people believe that democracy, if it works well, it must be able to provide the dividends that will comfort people and let people see it as the only game in town.”
Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante
Commenting on the latest Afrobarometer report which evinces that the presidency is the second most corrupt public institution, Dr Asah-Asante noted that it is difficult to combat corruption when most often than not, political leaders have their “cronies and pals” involved in corrupt activities. This, he explained, makes them unable to fight corruption.
“It is my prayer that we don’t get there but for the fight against corruption, you need political elites who have the wherewithal to fight it. They must be strong and they must be decisive and take all the necessary measures without fear or favour and this is what we lack in this country.”
Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante
The political scientist iterated that political elites must learn to deal with whoever is involved in any unscrupulous activity irrespective of party affiliation and ethnicity. He highlighted that the law must take its cause, although political heads unfortunately do not have the wherewithal to stand for the fight.
“So, I’m afraid we are going to experience this for a long time. I don’t know when it’s going to end and that is going to affect the quality of governance in this country.”
Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante
Damning report on presidency by Afrobarometer
Describing the report by Afrobarometer on the presidency as very unfortunate and damning, Dr Asah-Asante expressed that the issue of corruption, is something that governments overtime have not been able and ready to fight and only resort to paying “lip service” to its fight. He emphasized that time and again, different institutions have come out with reports “so damning against very crucial institutions of governance” in the country but political leaders have failed to do the needful by making sure that they right the wrongs.
“So, always, the reports will be published and we go to sleep. Look at Transparency International report, look at GII report and look at the recent one from the CDD and all that. It tells us that we are not ready as a society to fight corruption…”
Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante
To address the situation, Dr Asah-Asante revealed that the fight must start with the “political elites” before institutions such as the Office of the Special Prosecutor and other anti-corruption organisations and civils society can succeed. He explained that it must start with the leaders because they hold the political office and determine who should be prosecuted.
“Now that you have even OSP, then you come in with the issues of institutions. The institutions must come in to address the issue. The institutions must be strong but it doesn’t matter how strong an institution is if we don’t have the political officeholders who are very strong to get their work completed.”
Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante
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