A former Deputy Finance Minister and incumbent Member of Parliament for Obuasi West, Kwaku Kwarteng, has stated that many Ghanaians, including himself, are concerned that if the country continues on its current path, its democracy could collapse, taking all political parties with it.
According to him, to prevent this looming danger, the political class must recognize this reality and change their behaviour immediately, as time is running out.
Read also: Kwaku Kwarteng: To break-the-eight; we must first break the norm
The immediate past chairman of Parliament’s Finance Committee noted that since independence, the political norm has been for parties to sing praises of their past achievements and make grand promises for the future when going into elections.
“At the same time, a political party must paint its opponents in the worst possible light. We have mastered this art, and in the process, we have forgotten that politics should be about the future of our children and our motherland. We have reduced election campaigns to bitter struggles between competitors seeking power for the wrong reasons.”
Mr Kwarteng made these comments in a statement issued on Thursday, July 25, captioned “To break the eight, we must first break the norm”, in what looks like a piece of direct advice to his party the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), and by extension all political parties.
He added that the current political culture has fostered the belief that all politicians are the same, leading to the eight-year cycle the governing party aims to break.
He emphasised that to break this cycle, the governing party must first acknowledge the past and present failures of the political class in providing the quality leadership needed to address the country’s current issues.
The Obuasi West MP noted the need for deep and far-reaching reforms to tackle decades of bad politics and economic mismanagement.
He stressed that the government must demonstrate to voters its unwavering determination to fix the country, remain committed despite challenges, and ensure that no one is above the law.
“We must lead by example. As a precondition for any reforms, we must demonstrate the sacrifices we shall make as politicians to convince our people that we are in this together. We must address concerns about how much of our national resources we spend on ourselves as politicians, and take steps to overhaul the corrupt public procurement regime we inherited from previous governments and have continued to live with.
“Once we lead by example, we can say with integrity to our people that we are sinking in a common boat and call all Ghanaians to duty. As a political party, if we sincerely believe and can demonstrate our faithfulness to these commitments, breaking the eight will follow naturally.”
Myjoyonline.com
