Ghana’s chance to model Africa’s good governance

By Ebenezer Hanson

The General Overseer of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC), Rev. Dr. Mensa Otabil, has observed that the forthcoming 2008 general elections present Ghana with the unique opportunity to showcase to the rest of Africa a novelty of good governance.

He says after playing the torch bearer in the liberation of the continent and welcoming a new democratic dispensation, Ghana should blaze the trail in the new order of good governance for Africa, which action will resonate with the country’s status of the Black Star of Africa.

“ …After leading the emancipation effort on our continent and embracing a new democratic dispensation, Ghana has the rare opportunity to model a new way of good governance for Africa. We claim to be Black Star of Africa so let us shine the way forward for the rest of the continent.”

Rev. Dr. Otabil recognizes that, achieving this politically iconic status in Africa does not come on a silver platter but through the conscientious efforts of all political parties and stakeholders of the electioneering process and good governance to pursue best governance practices.

“Political parties must demonstrate that politics is not a game of life and death. They must allow the priorities of our nation and welfare of its people to animate their thoughts and actions so that in pursuing their party’s interest, the nation interest remains pre-eminent,” he advised.


Delivering the keynote address during the launch of the Political Parties Code of Conduct 2008 and the National Enforcement Body last Thursday in Accra, the General Overseer hoped that this year’s election would see a palpable improvement over previous ones in that political discourses would represent a contest of ideas and not belittling opponents and that politicians would resist the temptation to exploit the high levels of illiteracy for cheap political advantage.

“We are now 51 years old as an independent nation. As we grow in age, it must show in our maturity. We must leave our childish behaviours behind and increasingly act with more wisdom, decorum and restraint. We must help the nation to wield its growth in population into economic advantage. These are some of the expectations that we must have of one another,” he exhorted.


He asked Ghanaians to abhor ethnic and partisan allegiances as they limit the country’s human capacity to capture the opportunities in this global village, adding that true national and continental liberation requires the full deployment of all the nation’s massive human and natural resources in a focused manner.

Rev Otabil charged the Rev. Fred Degbe-led National Enforcement Body, the entity tasked with ensuring adherence of the provisions of the Code of Conduct, to uphold the national interest by rising above parochial considerations.


NPP General Secretary, Nana Ohene Ntow, pledged his party’s commitment to the Political Code and promised that the NPP would not engage in any act such as religious or tribal politics which has the potential to derail political process. “NPP commits itself to free, fair and peaceful elections and I urged all parties to do same so that at the end of the day there would be no reason to question the outcome of the elections”.

The NDC National Chairman, Dr. Kwabena Adjei, submitted that all is not well with the country’s democratic process and urge all parties to play by the rules. “And I want to point out that the majority is not always right and that might is not right,” he philosophized.

He reminded gathering that when the NDC “became unpopular it left office quietly after loosing the elections” and hoped that if any other party also becomes unpopular and loses elections it must also leave in like manner.

In a welcome address, a Senior Fellow of IEA, Brig. Gen Francis A. Agyemfra, noted that the 2008 general elections would be unique in terms of its competitiveness and that the possibility of such intense competition degenerating into violence could not be down played; and it was for this reason that the 2008 Political Parties’ Code was crafted to serve as guide to ensure free, fair and credible elections.

He disclosed that the 2008 Political Code was an improvement of that of 2004 but that it departs from the 2004 Code by establishing enforcement bodies both at the national and regional levels. The Regional Enforcement Bodies would monitor breaches of the Code at the various constituencies in the regions and report such breaches to the National Enforcement Body which has the mandate to investigate such breaches where necessary and issue sanctions in the form of reprimands and undertakings from offending parties.

Additionally, the National Enforcement Body has the mandate to also issue reports to alert the security agencies and other relevant bodies for the appropriate actions to be taken should breaches of the code occur.`

The 24-page Political Code of Conduct has provisions on measures to ensure free, fair and credible elections during the 2008 General Elections. It has chapters on Join Communiqué, Preamble, Democratic Imperatives, Campaigning Out-of-Campaign Activities, Elections, Enforcement and Interpretation.

The event, which was under the auspices of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and the Ghana Political Parties’ Programme, attracted representatives of nine political parties, namely, the NPP, NDC, CPP, DFP, PNC, United Love Party, the Eagle Party, Ghana National Party, the United Renaissance Party, officials of the Electoral Commission and National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) among others.