EDITORIAL TEAM
EDITORIAL
An alternative look at democracy
Ghana delivered yet again, at a time when democracy in Africa appears to be under threat from totalitarian regimes bent on circumventing the will of the people. The West African nation on December 7 voted to make opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo the president-elect, defeating President John Mahama by 53.8 percent to 44.4 percent and in doing so cemented the country ' s reputation as a standard bearer of democracy in a rather fractious region where coups and civil wars are the norm. Since its return to multi-party democracy in 1992, Ghana has successfully held six democratic elections. The December 7 elections are the third time since 2000 that the government of the day has been voted out of office, reflecting the Ghanaians’ lack of patience with performers that fail to meet expectations.
The fact that in each time, power has transferred peacefully has advanced the indisputable view that Ghana is one of the most mature democratic countries in West Africa. Love him or hate him, outgoing President John Mahama hit the nail with his concession statement: Every election is a hard-fought battle, and this one was no exception. For those of us who choose to be contenders and go into electoral contests, we go about it as a win-lose proposition. We believe that only one person can emerge as the winner. And while it is true that only one person can be elected President, in reality, and certainly in a democracy such as ours, every election is an opportunity for the people of this nation to express their will, to have their say in who will lead them in the shaping of Ghana’ s future.
In this way, each victory belongs to the people. And the true winner is always Ghana. Contrast Mahama’ s graciousness with that of Gambia’ s long time ruler, President Yahya Jammeh who, after initially accepting the results of the December 1 election that the country’ s elections commission say was won by opposition candidate Adama Barrow, has chosen to dig in, with a challenge at the country’ s Supreme Court. While the electoral challenge in itself may seem a democratic right to the loser, there was nothing democratic about Jammeh’ s 22 years of autocratic rule during which he took an axe to the country’ s democratic institutions. We hope the courts appreciates the Gambian people’ s desire for change and respects their wishes. Africa is full of despots, Jammeh’ s defeat brings hope that the other pariahs can be shovelled peacefully out of office.
Alfonce Mbizwo
Editor Alfonce Mbizwo alfonce @ businesstimesafrica. net
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