Elements of violence and impunity in Ghana’s electoral process and the gross disrespect for the rule of law over the years is a clear indication that the country’s democracy is a mere illusion.
This is according to Security Analyst, Col. Festus Aboagye (Rtd).
Speaking to GhanaWeb about the implications of recent episodes of violence experienced during electoral activities, Col. Aboagye noted that despite its perceived democratic status, Ghana practically cannot be said to be a democratic country.
“There are those who think that Ghana is democratic but democracy is not a specific value, the quality of it is a spectrum so you can be more democratic, you can be less democratic. Every country in the world is democratic but our case, to my mind, is one of a veneer. The top looks fine but when you go deep down, it is not a democracy,” he stated.
“For instance,” he continued, “protection of human rights…there are a couple of references where people lost their lives and the state has not been able to bring perpetrators to book so there is impunity. When there is no protection of human lives and there is impunity, there is no democracy.”
The retired senior military officer, to explain further, also noted that the level of impunity displayed by political actors and the reluctance of law enforcement agencies to do due diligence in meting out punishment proves that the rule of law as enshrined by Ghana’s constitution has very little impact when it comes to practicality.
“The respect of the rule of law, that all of us are equal before the law, in this election process, we have incidents involving different levels of Ghanaians. Those that I call the foot soldiers are the ones that were taken to court but their leaders, the political leaders that were sponsoring them are still sitting at home, so there is no rule of law, and when there is no rule of law, there’s no democracy,” he said.
