One of the most glaring problems of the Ghanaian society is widespread and systemic inequality. Heightened poverty, unequal access to essential services and resources, state capture, one party takes all, political mismanagement of state resources, corruption, uneven distribution of state resources, unmerited privileges and benefits to politically appointed and elected public officials are testament to the extent of inequalities that undergird Ghana’s socioeconomic systems.
Ordinary Ghanaians, constituting the masses of the population, are the victims of these inequalities. It is not surprising that one easily notices sharp contrast between the politically elected and bureaucratic class and the ordinary citizens. This is because while the country’s scarce resources serve the needs of the former class – the so-called politicians and bureaucrats, the latter class – the masses of the population, have to fend for themselves or find their own ways to address their developmental problems. Hence, unsurprisingly, religion and religious activities such as prayers, seeking spiritual assistance from religious leaders etc., have become a dominant path among the victimised masses to find solutions to their challenges, which the political and bureaucratic class are expected and must be responsible for addressing them.
In this opinion piece, I argue that grave inequalities in Ghana are deeply rooted, engrained, enshrined and reinforced by provisions in the 1992 constitution. The foundation of every advanced economy or any economy that seeks for advancement is the legal framework (laws, rules and regulations) that governs the behaviour of citizens including leaders, and ensures social justice, fair and equitable allocation of resources, benefits and rewards. Quite disturbing and unfortunate is the fact that the 1992 constitution of Ghana rather elevates the political and bureaucratic class overs and above the masses by allocating excessive and unmerited privileges to this class. It has been well-highlighted by some legal and constitutional scholars and commentators that the framers of the 1992 constitution might have incorporated these provisions to ensure that this class have the needed resources to carry out their mandates and serve the people efficiently.
Another argument is that the provisions were to contribute to democratic consolidation in the country. While these arguments seem valid, juxtaposing them to contemporary economic, social and political developments in Ghana clearly show that they have failed to meet their intended objectives and have outlived their relevance. Rather, the provisions have created an elitist and politically active class who allocate state resources to themselves and their cronies for their own benefits. Intuitively, certain provisions in the 1992 constitution were not necessarily meant for democratic consolidation or to effectively serve the people but rather to enable the farmers of the constitution and their compatriots to continue to enjoy the benefits they enjoyed while under the then authoritarian and dictatorial regimes that preceded the institutionalization of democracy in Ghana in 1992.
To date, little efforts have been made to ensure that the Ghanaian constitution actually serves the interests of the masses and not the few political and bureaucratic class. The political and bureaucratic class continue to enjoy excessive and unmerited benefits and privileges and do not see the need to review the constitution and bring it up to speed with the quest for development among the populace. The attitudes of the political and bureaucratic class attest to their unwillingness to do what is needful to promote equitable, fair and just distribution of development in the country. For instance, the Presidential candidates of the two dominant political parties – Dr Mahamudu Bawumia of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and John Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), have announced at their campaign rallies to review the 1992 constitution, attesting to the fact that they both know the 1992 constitution in its current state does not serve the interests of the masses but the elected few.
Yet, because the members of the two dominant parties enjoy the unmerited benefits and privileges provided by the constitution, they have consistently failed to do anything about it except constantly making a political campaign message to review the constitution when given the nod. This character of deceit is evidenced by the fact that both the NPP and the NDC have been in power since 1992.
The provisions under Article 71 of the 1992 Constitution demonstrate a clear attempt by the political and bureaucratic class to allocate to themselves scarce state resources that would otherwise go into addressing critical challenges confronting the majority of the population. The article in question makes provisions that put this class in a comfortable lead to enjoy the booty from the state even if there has not been any substantial change or impact made by them in their service to the state. Apart from enjoying high salary above others in addition to other benefits including fuel and utility, these same beneficiaries reward themselves through what has been termed ‘gargantuan ex-gratia – huge sum of money paid to themselves after serving the state for just four years.
Logically and rationally, the payment to Article 71 holders is incomprehensible especially in a country where poverty and unemployment rates are high, students study under trees, there are communities with no portable water and other essential resources and infrastructure. Yet, there has not been a conscious and moral attempt among these beneficiaries to rather divert these resources to where they are needed most. Most pathetically, the members of parliament (MPs) – the so-called representatives of the people, see no right in alluding to collectively review the provisions in the constitution to ensure that scarce state resources are tailored to their communities where poverty and other developmental challenges are predominant.
Commenting on the ex-gratia paid specifically to MPs who are listed under Article 71, the Honourable Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, is captured by multiple news outlets to have asserted that MPs rather receive gratuity and not ex-gratia every four years because they do not know their actual salary. If that is the case, then it is very serious as it opens rooms for excessive abuse and overexploitation of state resources since logically every employee is interested in knowing his/her salary even before the commencement of a position. The Speaker further asserted that the ex-gratia (gratuity as he called it) is insufficient to cater for the cost of running for election as MP. This is partly because people pay their way out to be elected but one would wonder, if citizens are provided the conducive environment to live a decent and meaningful life, why will anyone have to be paid to vote for a candidate. Rather, it’s the people who will even be in a position to support the campaign of the candidate.
The level of inequality in our society characterised by extreme poverty, is the major cause for candidates having to pay their way to be elected. This, in fact, has become a tool and a weapon used by the political class to their advantage. For instance, political party candidates distribute food items such as rice, sugar and petty cash to the electorates as a way to gain their votes during elections. At the party level too, delegates receive cash and at times electronic appliance such at TV, fridge etc. before casting their votes for candidates. Such acts, in the right, moral and conscious minds of candidates, do not make any substantial contribution to addressing the pressing needs of the population. The best approach is to rather implement sustainable solutions, which position the electorates to live a decent life comparable to politically elected position holders. But, would both NPP and NDC be interested in seeing the people advance to a level where sharp inequality and poverty are not observable among the population?
Just recently, the Honourable Speaker of Parliament joined those calling for ex-gratia to be scrapped. The call is right as ex-gratia does no good to the country except enriching the few in the political and bureaucratic class while depriving the masses from a fair share of the national cake. Indeed, ex-gratia is neither a performance incentive nor reward scheme but rather a scheme to loot the country for no substantial impact done. If ex-gratia is a performance-oriented incentive or reward scheme, there will certainly be benchmarks against which the political and bureaucratic class must judge to secure the ex-gratia. In such a case, not everyone under Article 71 will deserve ex-gratia. In its current state, ex-gratia is just by the mere virtue of membership – where being in the political and bureaucratic class automatically qualifies you for ex-gratia. Else, how can someone who serve the county for just 4 years, irrespective of the position held, benefit abnormally and astronomically than other citizens who have served the country for over 30 years and many of these people often go on pension being poor.
Many citizens who serve the country in diverse capacities for over a long period do not get the chance to be rewarded by the state for their service. Rather, these masses have to depend strictly on their pension contribution while those who serve the country for just 4 years enjoy massively as if they have played a substantial role in eradicating the persistent challenges in our society deserving to be rewarded. This allocation of excessive benefits and unmerited privileges by mere virtue of membership in the political and bureaucratic class has been the driving factor among many youths wanting to go into politics. The rising desire for leadership among the youths is not necessarily because they have a burning desire to sever the country but rather to enjoy the excessive benefits and unmerited privileges that come with being in the political and bureaucratic class. After all, apart from online scam (sakawa), one of the quickest ways to wealth and poverty eradication in Ghana is through politics. This can be attested by the quick turnaround in the lives of many Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (DCEs) within four years after being appointed. The same applies to individuals and some youth who follow those in the political and bureaucratic class. As such, many people aspire to go into politics to lift themselves and their families out of poverty, which is systemic, but our governments constantly fail to address.
The only sustainable solution to addressing grave inequality and putting Ghanaians on their paths to equitable, just and fair development is by reviewing provisions in the 1992 constitution that perpetuate inequality. From a right-based perspective, citizens have equal right to development just as the political and bureaucratic class and no right is better or important than the other. It is therefore the legal and moral duty of our MPs to review the constitution for the benefit of all. However, given that they are beneficiaries in the scheme that exploit state resources for their parochial benefits, will they show any interest in reviewing the constitution? As Honourable Okudzeto Ablakwa is reported to have recently called for a replication of the unfortunate incident that happened in Kenya in the country, that call must rather be made by the populace towards our MPs to compel them to review the constitution and repose the interest of the masses as the rightful beneficiaries of scarce state resources and not just a few that constitute the political and bureaucratic class.
Change must come from within, and the people of Ghana demand a change now. Power belongs to the people and that power when collectively exercised beyond just participating in elections, can compel leaders in the country to serve the interest of the people first and not themselves. Ensuring that the constitution is reviewed with immediate effect by their representatives (MPs) to serve the interest of the masses should be the ultimate priority of the power holders. The level of inequality in Ghana shows the country is sitting on a time bomb and the earlier we tackle this amicably for the benefits of all, the better for our progress as a nation.
The writer is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Development Research, University of Bonn, Germany, and a Lecturer at University of Environment and Sustainable Development, Ghana.
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