[ 2019-01-05 ]

Constitution Day: Ghana needs African Democracy embedded with cultural values
Constitution Day: Ghana needs African Democracy
embedded with cultural values
Dr Eric Oduro-Osae44

Accra, Jan. 04, GNA - Dr Eric Oduro-Osae, a Local
Governance Expert, has advocated an African type
of democracy, embracing traditional values and
customs, with traditional rulers playing prominent
roles in its implementation.

Dr Oduro-Osae, also the Dean of Studies and
Research at the Institute of Local Government
Studies, said the current democratic system
adopted “blindly” from the Western
world would not help the cause of Ghana’s
development efforts.

He said the current democracy lacked the necessary
ingredients in sync with the traditions of the
people and it was time she adopted the kind that
best suited the cause of national development.

Dr Oduro-Osae was speaking with the Ghana News
Agency in an interview, on Friday, ahead of the
celebration of the Constitution Day on Monday,
January 7, on the relevance of Constitutional
Rule.

Government, last year, designated January 7 every
year, as a Constitution Day, in recognition of the
commencement of the Fourth Republican
Constitutional dispensation on January 7, 1993.

The Day is also set aside to acknowledge
Ghana’s collective efforts at ensuring the
tenets of democracy, rule of law and principles of
constitutionalism are upheld.

Consequently, Government, through the Ministry of
Information, announced plans to organise the
maiden “Constitution Day Public
Lecture”, under the topic
“Constitutionalism in Ghana’s Fourth
Republic: Towards Functional Performance”.

The lecture would be delivered by the Rector of
the Ghana Institute of Management and Public
Administration (GIMPA), Professor Kobina Bondzie
Sampson, at the Ghana Academy of Arts and
Sciences, Accra at 1700 hours.

Dr Oduro-Osae said in the past, every member of
the society respected the Chief, noting that,
anytime the “Gong gong” was beaten at
the village square to summon the members of the
community, nobody dared stayed home because of the
powers wielded by the chiefs.

More so, he said, the people feared that any
disobedience to the chief could result in
expulsion from the community or severe
punishment.

In this regard, he called for the restoration of
the powers of chiefs so that they could function
effectively in modern democratic dispensation.

Despite the challenges posed by the current
democratic system, Dr Oduro-Osae said, it was far
better than any military government because it
allowed the people to exercise their rights and
freedoms, enhanced accountability and promoted
grassroots participation in decision-making,
especially in selecting people who governed them.

Responding to suggestions that with the high level
of indiscipline in the society, it would be
prudent to return to the military rule; Dr Osae
said that was not solution the shortfalls in the
current democratic system.

A military regime, he said, was characterised by
wanton human rights abuses and atrocities.

In the military rule, he said, there would be no
Parliament for the authorities to submit the
annual national budget statement to it for
scrutiny.

Thus there was lack of accountability and
transparency in the management of the national
resources.

Commenting on the designation of January 7, as a
Constitutional Day, Dr Oduro-Osae said it was in
order because it would raise awareness about the
country’s trajectory and challenges it had
overcome.

Therefore, he said, the Day should not be marked
indoors but with national activities.

The Day should be marked with national activities
that would involve the district, municipal and
metropolitan assemblies, which would conscientise
the people on patriotism and nationalism and
re-orient the mind-set of the people to be more
dedicated to national cause, Dr Oduro-Osae said.

“There is too much indiscipline in the
society, therefore, this is the time we need to
imbue nationalism in the people and re-orient
their minds towards achieving the vision and
aspirations of the nation,” he emphasised.

Ghana’s self-rule from 1957 has been
interrupted by five coup d’tats and
accompanying military regimes.

Source - Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA

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