Governance analyst Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah has called for a reevaluation of Ghana’s democratic practices, particularly the “winner-takes-all” system, which he believes intensifies political rivalry and instability.
Speaking at the IDEG Ghana Speaks High-Level Forum 2024 in Accra on Thursday, October 10, Professor Agyeman-Duah stressed the importance of African countries adapting democratic systems to better fit their unique contexts.
He argued that the existing electoral structure, in which the winning party takes complete control of the state, alienates nearly half of the electorate and fuels increased tensions.
“African countries must think of how they can adapt the democratic practice to their reality and I think to a large extent, the way we have structured our democracy, in terms of practice, has not been very fair to us.
“The issues about elections and why political parties are threatened are because we have created for ourselves the winner-takes system. We don’t have to have that. South Africa and other countries don’t have that.
“A winner shouldn’t take all because that is an exclusive system. Once you win, everything belongs to you, the state is entrusted to you completely and the party that got 49% has no rule.
“In fact, we should be thinking, how do we change? Is proportional representation the way to go? Through decentralisation, where at the district level we can participate actively and politically in the system. A party can win at the district level but lose at the national level so that everybody can be part of it. So this system of exclusivity is part of the problem we have with our elections and also towards our elections,” he stated.
Professor Agyemen-Duah continued to state: “As was said, if a party has been sidelined for eight years, they are hungry, thirsty because this is their time to also come but that intensifies the rivalry between these two main parties and other parties.”
