Ghana

State of Democracy Ghana

In 2008, for the second time since the inauguration of the Fourth Republic in 1993, political power changed hands in Ghana, this time from the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). NDC’s presidential candidate John Evans Atta Mills won the presidential election by the slimmest of margins (approximately 40,000 votes).

Transition of Power

The process of transition of power that occupied the greater part of 2009 was smoother than in 2001 but was still far from smooth. The opposition constantly accused the government of witch-hunting its members (for example, through corruption charges) whilst the government kept insisting that it was only seeking to ensure accountability. The shift in power has led to inter-party tensions, accompanied by a blame game and media war. This tension has posed a challenge to the inter-party relations as well as the relations between the media and the political parties.

Unrest within parties

In spite of some positive signs, quarrels within the ruling NDC as well as the NPP continue to dominate the media landscape. While some political analysts have described the exchanges as a mark of healthy internal democracy, they are nonetheless a worrying development, since entrenched factionalism within the parties affects discussions and debates.

Politics and the media

With over 100 newspapers, 247 FM radio stations and 28 TV channels, media pluralism is now very much established in Ghana. There is no organised repression of media and their role in building strong institutions is widely recognised. One issue of concern is the lack of enforceable Codes of Conduct to govern the operations of the media and their relationships with politicians. Media hype and sensation-searching broadcasting led to clashes and violence in 2009. However, the media alone cannot be blamed for this state of affairs. There is evidence that politicians contributed largely to the situation by spreading rumours. The same applies to mud-slinging on websites. These developments could threaten the foundation and consolidation of multi-party democracy in Ghana.

Constitutional and parliamentary reforms

One of the most important deficiencies in Ghana’s democracy is the power imbalance between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. In fact, the political system in Ghana can be described as top-down, due to a dominant executive branch. The constitution allows the president to choose the majority of his ministers from among the elected members of parliament. In practice, this means he will choose from among the ranks of his own party. This high proportion of members of parliament subverts parliamentary independence and makes parliament a weak partner. The president has installed a Constitutional Review Commission in January 2010 that has recently completed its work. A constitutional referendum and the signing into law are imminent.

NIMD Ghana Programme

The day to day management of NIMD's Ghana programme is carried out by a professional secretariat located at the office of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), which was founded in 1989 as an independent, non governmental organisation. Through the IEA and NIMD, the political parties in Ghana established an institutional means of inter-party cooperation which resulted in 2008 in the acceptance by all political parties of the Democratic Consolidation Strategy Paper (DCSP) and its subsequent launch. All parties signed up regardless of the outcome of the parliamentary and presidential elections in December 2008.

DCSP

The DCSP presents a five year reform programme, focusing on issues like the rebalancing of powers (between the executive, legislature and judiciary), a review of the constitution, anti-corruption measures, enhancement of the role of women and young people in governance, the institutionalisation of political parties, the transfer of presidential powers, a review of the role of chiefs and traditional authorities, the professionalisation of the media, and an improvement in relations between institutions of the state and civil society.

Transition of power

The NIMD funded Ghana Political Party Programme played an important role in the political transition, first by bringing leaders together upon the announcement of the 2008 elections and afterwards by urging the losing party to accept defeat gracefully. Secondly, a transition law was prepared by IEA that regulated the smooth transition of power from the NCC to the NDC government. The 'Presidential Transition Bill', prepared by the IEA, which includes the lessons learned from the 2009 transition of power, was enacted in the first quarter of 2012.

Relations between political and civil society improved

The Ghana programme makes a concerted effort to reinforce the link between political parties represented in the Ghana programme and civil society organisations at both national and decentralised level, with the purpose of jointly lobbying for a re-balancing of political powers, through the constitutional amendment process. Both political and civil society organisations are important and powerful stakeholders in the legal and constitutional reform process.

Stakeholders

1. Programme partner

Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA)

2. National Partners

Electoral Commission
Constitutional Review Commission
National Commission for Civic Education
National Development Planning Commission
Finance, Constitutional and Legal Committee

3. International Partners

Royal Netherlands Embassy
Ghana Research and Advocacy Programme (G-RAP, an initiative of Canada, Denmark, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom)
European Commission

Contact person for this programme

Jan Tuit, jantuit@nimd.org