African Time: Essays on Contemporary Politics and Governance by Mawuko-Yevugah Lord

Author:Mawuko-Yevugah, Lord [Mawuko-Yevugah, Lord]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
Published: 2013-06-06T16:00:00+00:00

18. GOVERNING WITHOUT

THE GOVERNED 18

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, which traces its roots to the Danquah-Busia political heritage in Ghanaian politics, has never hidden its belief in liberal democratic principles and ideals. On more than one occasion, the government has pledged to operate an open, transparent and responsible government founded on the will of the people. Government functionaries and dyed in the wool supporters of the government would readily cite the maiden first 100 days press conference at the seat of government as well as the recent novelty people’s assembly to mark the first year of the administration as evidence of the government’s commitment to an open and participatory governance. Some political commentators have however, pointed out that during the last year, the government by its actions and policies could not demonstrate beyond all doubt that it really is receptive to the sentiments of the public.

It has been widely accepted by political thinkers that one of the ways of assessing how responsive a particular government is to the concerns of the public is how effectively that government responds to those concerns. Elsewhere in developed democracies, public opinion has become one of those effective tools that shape and regulate government policies. In our part of the world where opinion polls would be very costly and unreliable, the media is the most useful instrument in assessing and collating public opinion. It has been said that one of the greatest things that happened to mass media in our country, especially after the advent of constitutional rule in 1993, is the proliferation of print newspapers and frequency modulated (FM) radio stations. The radio stations in particular, have been credited with creating the platform for the previously passive and voiceless people to freely express their views on a variety of issues and to constantly engage their leaders on issues that affect them. During the past year, a lot of issues came up for public discussion and the Ghanaian people left observers of the political scene in no doubt that they are now wide awake to play a watchdog role and are prepared to keep the government on its toes. It has been argued by some commentators that the revaluation of the cars for former government functionaries, the directive by President Kufuor to the leadership of Parliament to shelve the MPs’ car loan issue and even the unexpected reshuffling of cabinet by the President just after 10 months in office, among others were necessitated by the widespread public interest that such issues generated.

While it could be argued to some degree of certainty that the government has demonstrated the ability to run a transparent administration, it is equally true to say that some of its decisions on some major issues during the past year did not reflect the mood of the populace. Very early into the administration when the President made his maiden visit to neighboring Republic of Togo and the public used the media to express reservation against the visit, many people thought the government would be circumspect in future travels by the President.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.