President John Dramani Mahama has noted that democratic governance in themselves do not bring opportunity and economic prosperity unless its principles are abided by.
In the view of President Mahama, the essence of governance, irrespective of the system, is to deliver dividends to the governed.
“Democracy will not survive by itself if we don’t work for it. Whatever system of government you have – autocracy, democracy, theocracy – whatever, if it does not deliver opportunities and prosperity to the people, it will not survive,” President Mahama stressed.
He stated this at the opening session of the Democracy Dialogue in Accra on Wednesday on the theme “Why Democracies Die”.
According to President Mahama, if democracies were to survive, they must go in tandem with strong institutions.
“We must strengthen institutions, independent courts, parliaments and our electoral bodies. We must deliver development, because democracy without development, democracy without roads, democracy without schools, hospitals and jobs will always be at risk,” President Mahama emphasized.
He identified five factors that contribute to the fast deterioration of democratic regimes.
They include weak institutions that fail to protect citizens’ rights, corruption and elite capture that erode public trust, exclusion and inequality that alienate citizens, leadership deficits that undermine legitimacy, and external pressures that exploit vulnerabilities.
Citing examples of democratic falls in Latin America, Europe and Asia, the rise of fascism in Europe in the 1930s, President Mahama said democracy does not occur at once but must be nurtured every day.
He said though Ghana is vaunted as a beacon of democracy on the continent and rightly so, more was yet to be done as inequality, lack of opportunity for the youth, monetisation of politics, and misinformation persist.
A free and independent media, President Mahama acknowledged is “democracy’s immune system”.
As the pacesetter in democratic governance on the continent, he pledged that Ghana would continue to pursue independent institutions, uphold free expression, and promote democratic governance.
“Democracy dies when citizens lose faith, when leaders abandon integrity and institutions succumb to capture. But democracy can be renewed when citizens rise to defend it.
“Let this dialogue in Accra be remembered not as a lament for dying democracies, but as a rebirth of hope. If the roots of our democracy are deep, there is no need to fear unconstitutional governance,” he said.
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