Sulemana Braimah, the Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), has called for urgent reforms in Ghanaian politics to address the growing issue of monetization and its detrimental impact on civic engagement.
He made these remarks during the inaugural public lecture held in honor of the late legal luminary, Anthony Akoto Ampaw, popularly known as “Sheey Sheey,” at the University of Ghana on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.
In his speech, Braimah emphasised the institutional challenges threatening civic citizenship in Ghana’s modern democracy, with a particular focus on the pervasive monetization of politics.
He argued that the current political structures primarily benefit those in power, making it difficult to foster genuine civic participation.
“We must reform our political parties, I don’t know how we are going to do it, but it’s a major thing that has to happen because the structures and the mechanisms that have been put in place essentially benefit those who are there’, he noted.
He also expressed concern about the increasing tendency of politicians to prioritize financial gain at the expense of citizens’ interests, calling for structural reforms to combat this trend.
“Reducing monetization in politics, I don’t know how we can get that done, and we also need structural reform to our institutions,” he added.
Braimah warned that without concrete efforts to address these challenges, Ghana’s democracy could face a continued decline.
He urged the nation to reassess the Democracy Project of 1992 and consider constitutional amendments to strengthen democratic governance.
“We need to re-evaluate the Democracy Project in 1992, just as we need to amend the constitution. Without that, we will see a deterioration in our democracy,” he cautioned.
The event, organized by the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), featured several distinguished guests, including the Executive Director of CDD-Ghana, Prof. Henry Kwasi Prempeh, the Director of the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana, Prof. Dzodzi Tsikata, and other prominent members of the legal community.
The lecture served as a platform to reflect on the legacy of the late Akoto Ampaw and the future of democracy in Ghana.
By: Fafa Melody Kportufe
