The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, says Ghana must be cautious of choosing civil revolution and disobedience, rather than military takeovers, in disrupting the democratic values of the country.
He said to some citizens, democracy had not lived up to its billing, resulting in erosion of the voters trust and confidence in the political class.
To that end, Speaker Bagbin said the military in Ghana were not ready to take over as has happened recently in Niger and other neighbouring countries, but authorities must be wary of civil revolution.
He was delivering a keynote address in Takoradi at a public forum which was organised by Parliament, just one activity to commemorate 30 years of uninterrupted parliamentary democracy under the Fourth Republic.
The commemoration is on the theme “30 Years of Parliamentary Democracy Under the Fourth Republic: the Journey Thus Far”.
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The Speaker said: “There is a huge dissonance between our words as politicians and our actions. Our assurances are not supported by any empirical data.
“This has made political conduct highly transactional, with instant personal benefits to the voter as the currency. As a result, the trust and confidence that voters had in democracy have been trumped.”
Bagbin argued that all around the world, including Ghana, members of the public held those they had elected to office and democratic institutions in very low esteem.
He attributed the loss of confidence in politicians by voters to a list of cases of corruption, impropriety, conflict of interest, influence peddling, crime, economic hardship and misdemeanours.
Bagbin said all of these were threats to the successes Ghana has achieved over the years for practising democracy as a country.
“We cannot bury our heads in the sand like the ostrich and pretend all is well,” he said. “Ghanaians are still not in agreement as to which political direction to go and how to get there.
“We the leaders and the people must understand each other, have a common appreciation of the direction, so that, together, we can navigate this tortuous journey of democracy successfully, in joy and happiness,” the Speaker said.
Bagbin called on the political class to develop new, stringent measures aimed at reversing the current trend to help regain the confidence of Ghanaian citizens.
He added that this could only be achieved by instituting policies which would bring about the desired socio-economic growth of the people, while ensuring accountability and transparency within public institutions.
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