The Anti-Corruption Campaigner, Edem Senanu, has advised political parties to pay keen attention to the latest report by Afrobarometer and find ways to increase trust in Ghana’s democracy.
The latest democracy risk report by Afrobarometer has indicated that 87%, representing almost 9 in every 10 Ghanaians, believe the country is heading in the wrong direction. This comes 141 days before the 2024 December polls to select a new President and parliamentarians for the country.
Details of the Afrobarometer report suggest a massive decline in democracy satisfaction among countries in Africa, with Ghana experiencing a double-digit decline. In 2011/2013, the percentage of Ghanaians satisfied with democracy stood at 74%.
However, 10 years later (2021/2023), the rate has decreased to 51%, indicating a 23 percentage point decline. This shows a decreasing popularity of democracy among Ghanaians over the years.
Mr Senanu said this report is worrying because the youth losing interest in democracy is not good for its fate. He advised political parties to take keen interest in the report and find solutions.
Although he was aware of the level of corruption, he said he was not aware of the severity until the data was released.
“I tell you that I was surprised, I didn’t think it was going to be that high. But you see we are individuals, what is happening around the country you are not every where so people are experiencing and how they are drawing the conclusions, it is a different thing expect that for those of us in the space, the methodology used to capture this we see that it is not just a perception.
“It means that we should not take likely this result at all. Coupled with the fact that there has been, is it 23% fall in our confidence in democracy, that is serious and so we should not take it likely at all,” he said.
On the back of this, he advised the political parties to take keen interest and ensure that the narrative is corrected.
“I think the political parties ought to be questioning themselves because it doesn’t look like they are delivering on the promise of citizens. Government should be sitting up. I think it is a major issue that this report is highlighting for our attention,” he said