Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah, the Chief Executive Officer of the John Kufuor Foundation, has reiterated the need for the nation’s democratic institutions to be strengthened in the wake of the recent uprising in Guinea.
He cautioned that the recent Afrobarometer surveys conducted by the Centre for Democratic Development-Ghana had shown that Ghanaians’ support for democracy was gradually waning and needed to strengthen the democratic institutions.
“We need to strengthen our democratic institutions so as citizens will have confidence and be encouraged to support them to sustain democratic governance and the rule of law,” Prof. Agyeman-Duah stressed.
He said the situation highlighted the need for leadership of the country to restore confidence in the country’s democratic dispensation adding that “I think it is dangerous to think we are different and we cannot be complacent.
“We should never let our guards down, we have to continually strengthen, be encouraged and have confidence in our democratic institutions, if you look at the Afrobarometer surveys, it is clear that in recent times, the citizenry support for democracy has fallen.
“That is an indication that even in the country, people have serious issues with democracy because it is not delivering the way we thought it will so that it challenges our political leaders to bring confidence back to our democratic processes, “Prof. Agyeman-Duah noted.
He expressed concerns that the sub-region could return to the “terrible years for Africa” where most countries in the sub-region were ruled by military regimes and to prevent a recurrence of such situation of instability, he suggested that emerging coups should be of greater concern to the citizenry.
Two successful coups in Mali, and one attempt in Niger has heightened concerns of a political crisis and the threats of extremist elements in most West African countries and Guinea President Alpha Condé was ousted by the military on Sunday because he had overseen a constitutional change that allowed him to successfully run for a controversial third term in 2019.
The coup in Guinea was the fourth attempted coup in West Africa in the last year with two military takeovers in Mali and a failed coup in Niger with the African Union and the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) have condemned the coup and called for a return to civilian rule as they do always when such events happen. –citinewsroom.com