Promoting Parliamentary Democracy – the African Perspective August 26, 2008

Promoting popular democracy  through legislative strengthening in Africa- a new approach required

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This paper looks at ways in which African countries can build long term democratic institutions, while at the same time providing the wherewithal for institutions of democracy to become independent of vested interest and foreign influences.

 

Introduction

 

The second liberation of Africa occasioned by passionate street protests against one party and military rule, in the late 1980s, early 1990s, which was preceded by years of popular struggles in Africa and opened the floodgates to multi party democracy. Today, democracy is taken for granted by many, while the clamour for this system of government has never been louder. While African governments, political parties, civil society, and various solidarity movements grapple with new approaches to building sustainable democracies, donors have increasingly been concerned mainly with the impact and quality of governance and their economic development aims in Africa. 

 

Increasingly however, it is becoming obvious to all that years of popular struggles by farmers, youth, women’s movements, and intellectuals and so on, will come to nothing unless the institutions of popular democracy are built and sustained to underpin the gains that these struggles yield. I use the term ‘popular democracy’ as opposed to other forms (e.g. electoral democracy) because in recent years, ‘democracy’ has been the subject of various debates. In my view, popular democracy is the sort of democracy that is won by the people’s movement for change. It can be gained through elections or violent means, as long as it is democratic, and is based on the consent of the people. Perhaps, the best definition of this, is Winston Churchill’s’ admonishing to UK parliamentarians that: “it is not Parliament that should rule; it is the people who should rule through Parliament” (House of Commons, November 11, 1947).

For any society that seeks to build and sustain democracy, three main institutions are essential: parliament, political parties and civil society (the media is included in civil society). In Africa, it is essential to add traditional institutions represented by chiefs and traditional rulers, and the mass of young people, and the women’s movements, community based organisations and so on. Any attempt to secure popular representative democracy without these important actors is bound to result in a system of government that is not accountable, non-democratic nor less representative.

 

Power, democracy and representation

Democracy, especially the popular version is about the acquisition of power and the means to distribute or redistribute abundant economic resources and power arrangements in a society, not simply about elections. Power is also about the distribution of resources and the means of acquisition. Every African country tries to balance power relationships vis-à-vis ethnic, regional, religious, and sometimes economic interests. Some may call this ‘tribalism’ or ethnicity, but real politic dictates these arrangements. A lack of awareness of the local political context, i.e., the real politics of a country therefore means that most foreign imposed solutions, no matter how well intentioned, is bound to fail.  

 

Traditional forms of donor support  to African parliaments relies overwhelmingly on ‘technical’ support, which most often is based on quick two-day workshops. In all the efforts by national governments, political parties and external donor institutions, the question of building long term democratic culture is often is eschewed in favour of short term, quick, and often non durable solutions. These workshops are usually facilitated by people whose experience of governance or parliamentary development is based on countries with long years of parliamentary tradition (e.g. House of Commons in the UK).  While these may be relevant at times, and could provide valuable lessons in parliamentary practices and systems, sometimes, they are off the mark.

 

Experience has taught me that these engagements are not aimed at institution building, but largely discussions on what ought to be, or what is done elsewhere in what is called “mature” democracies. The tools are often lacking. It is also important to recognise that political behaviour is usually not influenced by these workshops and conferences. They have their uses; but more often than not the issue of building sustainable institutions for democracy is even not on the agenda.

 

There is also an assumption that the key requirement to creating effective parliaments and political parties is having a democratic and accountable government. The reverse could also be true. Strong political parties can ensure effective representation in parliament, leading to people-based and accountable legislatures, and vice versa. A strong popular based democratic government will more or less be based on consent, i.e., the will of the people and could garner support in times of a political stalemate or crisis as we are seeing in Zimbabwe.

 

A people based legislature will be in a position to oversee resource re-distribution which is equitable and fair, and not influenced by regional or ethnic considerations, will defend the national interest and develop a economic and foreign policy based on old fashioned ‘national interest’. In today’s world, globalisation has become an excuse for naked exploitation. If parliaments are to retain their relevance and gain the respect of the people, they ought to show they have teeth and are willing to use the vast powers they have in protecting the vulnerable.

 

Western donors institutions are beginning to acknowledge the fact that  some forms of donor assistance in this area is greatly flawed and ineffective. They lack detail and focus; are naïve about the politics of these countries, their cultures and history; and are implemented by people who lack political judgement. In my years of working in governance from the UK, I have often met people in highly respected institutions who often treat Africa as if it were one region, and do not bother to study in depth the countries in which they work.

 

There is a reluctance to accept the fact that Parliaments are not value-free institutions. They are often the product of a long term process of political struggles, and therefore reflect the cultural and political traditions of a country and of particular societies. No one will argue that the US Congress and the UK House of Commons have different traditions and precepts. Why should that be a problem in the case of Africa? In essence therefore, the institutional or capacity needs of African parliaments are bound to differ, and rightly so. It is important to bear this in mind in developing strategies and programmes to underpin the work of legislative institutions in Africa. The differences matter. The capacity building needs of the Ethiopian House of Peoples Representatives (HoPR) and those of the Kenyan National Assembly are bound to differ. While Ethiopia has emerged from years of military dictatorship and a guerrilla war, Kenya is also emerging from years of one party rule, still trying to come to terms with a troubled transition.

 

Institution building versus parliamentary strengthening

 

In recognition of the increasing importance of parliaments and Members of Parliament (MPs) in democracy building, parliamentary strengthening has become an important part of international democracy assistance strategies.  As a representative forum, African parliaments remain one of the most important institutions of governance and democracy building. Historically, national parliaments have always performed the roles of representation, legislation and accountability. In their representative function, parliaments ensure that all shades of political, ethnic, and/or cultural views are represented and articulated to government. 

 

Parliament therefore serves as a crucial link between the electorate (voters) and MPs. As a legislative body, parliaments play a critical role in the legislative process by scrutinising and amending government bills, but also possess the ability to initiate, propose and shape legislative national priorities. Finally, parliament is the only constitutional way through which democratically elected governments are held to account in their actions and policies. To a large extent, parliaments help to establish the norms and values that underpin the democratic culture of a country and help to shape people’s expectations and attitudes towards democracy.

 

But one area that is constantly lagging behind people’s expectations is the relationship between the elected representative (the MP) and his/her constituents, and therefore their ability to hold governments to account. Every democracy requires a mechanism for constant national dialogue as a forum for peaceful coexistence. In countries in transition from conflict to peace (e.g. the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, or even Kenya), mediation and reconciliation remains a key function of the national parliament. Yet in many parts of Africa, national parliaments are falling short of these expectations.  For African parliaments, the reasons for such weakness are varied and differ from country to country. 

 

Investment in African parliaments has often been low, even though this is steadily rising in recognition of current realities. Yet, they still lack the basic tools to perform their core functions as representative institutions.  Most have limited staffing, and often poorly trained staff, lacking in experience and political will. The internal structures, often inherited from the colonial days, remain weak and disorganised, thus undermining the rules of parliamentary business. 

 

One area that is often ignored in African parliaments is the influence of the unique political environment. No parliament is independent of the political process or the interest of the ruling elite; indeed, parliaments often reflect the political realities of the day.  The effectiveness of a parliament will therefore be conditioned by the existing political realities in which they operate. One such reality is the process of transferring power, often seen as a quick fix, a change of guard at the State House, regardless of the long term consequences for the country in question. For those who prefer the quick fix solution of transition, any attempt to anticipate hiccups and difficulties are frowned upon, and when this happens, it comes as a surprise to them. Kenya is a good example of this.

 

It is also often the case that organisations involved in parliamentary strengthening are themselves lacking in experience and a track record of supporting African political institutions. There is often an assumption that foreign based international organisations or individuals have the wherewithal to provide parliamentary capacity building to enhance the effectiveness of legislative institutions. ‘Internationals’ as they are called these days are therefore given access to complex parliamentary processes and often changing political environments, where they spend large sums of money on capacity building which in the end, simply disempowers the staff and legislators of African parliaments.

 

One glaring proof of this is the lack of a single African-led, or African based parliamentary strengthening institution leading in Africa today. While international these institutions may be well intentioned, they often fail because of the certain assumption that anyone – no matter how poorly trained, ill equipped or inexperienced ‘expatriate’ – can be good for Africa. Often, quite conversely, the consequences are dire for the future of sustainable African institution building. The only exception here is the efforts being made by the East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA: www.eala.org) to set up a parliamentary centre for East African legislators. The Africa Union and other sub-regional organisations (e.g. ECOWAS) can learn from this.

 

A new proactive approach required

In short, if there is recognition that legislatures are the driving forces of democracy and popular-based representation, then it is important to institutionalise these effectively. Africa needs to build Regional Parliamentary Centres funded by African governments, staffed by African experts, who of course can be supported by experts where necessary. The need to strengthen the Secretariats of  African  parliaments   to enable them deliver effective services to MPs and legislators, build sustainable, accountable, and transparent institutions to underpin democratic governance has never been greater. The lack of an African Parliamentary Institute mandated to train parliamentary staff, and supporting various committees of parliament is a serious ideological and institutional weakness.

 

The effectiveness of electoral politics means that voting ineffective MPs out and new ones in every five years is becoming the norm. This means that new MPs will need trained and competent staff to support them. Only a parliamentary institute linked to an institution of learning (e.g. University) can provide this sort of expertise on a long term, sustainable basis. It will produce professional parliamentary staff with a future interest in promoting excellence, and not mediocrity, and foster operational consistency in the work of legislatures, and be able to support new parliamentarians when the need arises.

 

Such an institution can not only enhance the work of parliaments, but also enable new (leaders) legislators to better understand their functions and how to exercise them for the good of the country. African parliaments need to move to the modern era through better management, effective financial systems and practices, and to use resources that are abundant in-country. Waiting for others – i.e. ‘internationals’ to provide the technical support, will lead to disappointment in the electoral process and weaken the parliamentary system as a whole. The people cannot wait.

 

 

© Zaya Yeebo/July 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ghana’s Presidential race: Why Akuffo Addo is Ahead. April 8, 2008

Why I fear Nana Akuffo Addo will win the elections.

 

A recent research by an American firm, claims that the MP for Akim Abuakwa South, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, presidential candidate of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) “has been tipped to win the December election.” A similar research by groups fronting for the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) also claims that the CPP will “overtake the NDC.”

In an election year, there will be many of such research and pools. But how can they be trusted? Without venturing, I will dare make many predictions. Recently, when I told a close friend that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will win the Presidential elections and succeed Agyekum Kufour, his response was immediate. “No, they (NPP) cannot win this time.”

“Why”, I asked sounding perplexed. His answer was to the point. “There is too much poverty”. He could have said more, but he did not. No one can argue against the fact that for the past eight years, poverty has been on the increase, while the North-South divide is getting  dangerously wide. Yes, there is too much poverty, but unlike my friend, how much of that can be attributed solely to the NPP and Kufour?

 

For more than 20 years, Rawlings ruled Ghana first under the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) and later under the NDC (National Democratic Congress) administrations. So if Ghana is poor, and Ghanaians cannot make ends meet – which is a fact, who should be held responsible? The Committee for Joint Action (CJA) will blame the NPP. Indeed, on some occasions, Rawlings has been seen to join CJA rallies, giving credence this antiquated lie.

 

For me, Rawlings, more than Kufour should be held responsible for the current poor state of our infrastructure and welfare services. Water shortages, load shedding, poor primary schools, child poverty, you name it. If it is a matter of apportioning blame, then he (Rawlings) should shoulder a greater proportion of this, after all, he was in charge for over 20 years. Why Ghanaian voters will punish Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for something that is not his making beats my mind? But some people seem to think that this is what will happen. Ghanaian voters are quite sophisticated, and can distinguish political gerrymandering for truth, I think so.

 

 

Incumbency and Diaspora connections are also important factors in this selection. Undoubtedly, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will benefit from his government’s incumbency. While the NPP rules Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will have advantages which the other Presidential aspirants may not have. Other parties in Africa have always benefitted from incumbency, but Sierra Leone and Kenya demonstrates that sometimes, a party needs more than incumbency to win an election. But it is worth exploring.

 

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been to Guinea, Nigeria, and will soon be on his way to other countries with huge Ghanaian Diaspora communities. Some of this can be attributed to the fact that the NPP is still in charge. But to be frank, the NPP has always had a huge Diaspora following in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands and so on. The Diaspora has always been a source of funding for the NPP. The party will exploit these connections to raise huge amounts of money for the Akuffo Addo campaign.

 

The NDC has also benefitted from such Diaspora links, although limited to the personality of Rawlings. Rawlings could rely on a few Diaspora Ghanaians and African-Americans in the US because he built connections with the African-American community mainly through the Louis Farrakhan networks while he was in office. Recently, the CPP presidential candidate, Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, was in London on fundraising and meet the community tour. His address to party loyalists in north London was impressive, candid and courageous. He demonstrated that the CPP’s revival was not a figment of our imagination, and for party loyalists like me, it was encouraging.

 

The strength of the various parties contending for power is another. The NPP, NDC, CPP and PNC are the main parliamentary parties. Of all these parties, the NPP remains the one with huge potential to raise money – by any means necessary. The NDC has advantages which it has squandered and continues to squander due to huge personal egos and power hungry individuals who behave as though Ghana will sink without their meddling.

 

The continuing attention lavished on Rawlings – who is not a Presidential candidate is disadvantageous to the Professor John Evans Atta-Mills campaign. In my view, and it is one which I will hold with deep religious conviction, the main obstacle between Professor Mills and state power is neither Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom nor Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, but Rawlings.  It also appears that no one in the NDC has the courage and conviction to ask Rawlings to do the decent thing for the sake of the party. For Professor Mills to run a clean and honest campaign, Rawlings and the undemocratic tendency in the NDC must take a back seat and allow the Professor to represent their party (the  NDC).  Until then, the Professor has a huge battle.

 

How about the others? The CPP is beginning to show some revival under the leadership of Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom.  Since he won the support of the CPP congress, Dr. Ndoum has taken up the challenge with confidence and zeal. Those of us who doubted his commitment to the Nkrumaist agenda will now have to revise our thoughts and support Dr. Ndoum. He appears to be a fighter, a man of unadulterated zeal and convictions. However, the CPP will need more than this for Dr. Ndoum to get the keys to the castle of Flag Staff House.  There are some who think Kwesi Nduom might even lead the CPP to victory. My projection is that the CPP will make serious parliamentary gains. Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom might hold the cards if the Presidential race goes for a second run. Nevertheless, Kwesi Ndoum will take the party far beyond what others have done in the last two elections.

 

In assessing the chances of the parties and their candidates, it is becoming clear to me that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo campaign is perhaps the most professional, up to date and formidable machinery.  It is obvious that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is exploiting his skills as a human rights lawyer and campaigner to good use. The NPP is not known for its activism, but Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is. This shows that there is a distinction between President Kufour and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

 

He is pragmatic about regional and pan African politics, so far, he seems to be the only one articulating the ECOWAS agenda. He has already broken his party’s mould by talking about pan Africanism, while he was in Guinea (Conakry), even paying tribute to Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. Whether this is an opportunities election ploy or not, we wait to see. Basically, he is stealing the clothes of the CPP. That worries me as a CPP member because I have always regarded that terrain as a no go area for the NPP. The CPP will need to catch up. Paa Kwesi Ndoum also articulates a progressive regional and Pan African policy, supported by Kwame Nkrumah’s daughter.

 

On the economic front, I will need to check party manifestoes before passing judgement. My guess at this stage is that there will be little difference between them. The NPP will maintain its liberal economic philosophy, with greater emphasis on the market, and probably continue the NDC policy of selling the nations assets to the highest foreign bidder. It will do what the IMF and World Bank instructs it to do, although with more caution than Rawlings and his PNDC/NDC did with the help of Dr. Kwesi Botchway, and foreign predators.

 

Here, only the CPP has the blueprint for a national economic revival of the ailing neo-colonial economy. It is refreshing to listen to Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum honestly articulating a progressive economic policy based on self reliance. It seems the CPP will have some welfare type policies to appeal to its grassroots but the leadership is certainly not a socialist ideology wielding type. As for the NDC, the way the Rawlings regime handed Ghana’s economy to market forces, selling anything of value, and closing down schools and welfare centres, making civil servants unemployed and so point to the sort of recklessness which Ghanaian can do without. I do not think they are better at managing the neo-colonial economy than the NPP, probably worse. Neither the NDC nor NPP can match the CPP on this score.

 

I am worried at my own conclusions, for, if my predictions are right, Ghana will be ruled for another 4 years by the NPP, but this time with Nana Akuffo Addo as President. It will be crowning moment for the NPP, but sad for Nkrumaists like me since I would like to see the back of the NPP. Of course, I would like to see the CPP ruling Ghana again, but that is a forlorn hope, and might not happen. Something tells me that my wishes will not come through this time. I have to get used to another dose of NPP medicine. If this happens, the only real loser will be Professor Atta Mills, who would have lost his last chance of becoming President. But it is too early for such predictions, there will be several months of campaigning and mudslinging. Even my village bakologo (frafra word for soothsayer) is cautious on this. He is playing a waiting game, so am I?

 

 

Zaya Yeebo

Ghana: Kwame Nkrumah – The Unfinished Agenda March 22, 2008

Nkrumah’s unfinihsed agenda. 

Kwesi Pratt  examines  the factors which shaped Nkrumah’ s ideas, ideals and vision, the  current state of the worldwide Nkrumaist Pan African movement and the struggles which lie ahead.

 

The anti-colonial struggle in Africa, a component of the general anti-imperialist struggle, preceded the organised well focused nationalist struggle for independence in the late forties of the 20th century in Africa spearheaded by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. For example before the First World War the Aborigines Rights Protection Society made up of Fante traditional royalty foiled Britain’s attempt to seize Fante land for use by white settlers in the Gold Coast. Meanwhile Garveyism (led by Marcus Garvey, a West Indian black businessman) was gaining currency in Africa with its message “Africa to Africans”.

 

The South African Native National Congress founded in 1912; Nyasaland National Congress founded in i918; John Chilebive’s Anti-First World War Movement which protested, among other things, against the participation of Africans in the useless imperialist war, the Negritude movement in ‘France (by African Students) led by Caesaive, a African West Indian and Leopold Senghor of Senegal. Young Senegalese of Senegal and Young Dahomeans of Dahomey who challenged French socio-economic policies in their respective countries, the Mau Mau Movement led by Dedan Kimathi, the Pan-African Movement – were all examples of such organizations.

 Nkrumah and the anti-colonial struggles

As mentioned earlier an extremely important trait of the third stage of the general crisis of global capitalism was decolonization. But the decolonisation process was informed by the cumulative magnitude of socio-economic hardships and contradictions caused by the general crisis of global capitalism. Nkrumah’s vision and his long anti-imperialist struggle were shaped by these crises, a formidable weapon he used in his onslaught on colonialism.

 

In Ghana and elsewhere in Africa, during the Second World War the colonial powers intensified the exploitation of the human and natural resources of the colonies to be able to finance the war. While they demanded more raw materials from their colonies at reduced prices, they increased the prices of manufactured goods, which they exported .to the colonies.

 

Unemployment which engulfed the youth and thousands of African soldiers who returned from Burma, India and North Africa after the war was widespread. The undeveloped physical and social infrastructure more or less broke down. Misery, hunger, disease, frustration, afflicted the colonized peoples. Law and order were seriously threatened and the crime rate soared astronomically. In other words, the contradictions between the colonial forces and relations of production reached antagonistic proportions beyond repair.

 

Dr. Nkrumah, armed with the correct ideology, scientifically identified the essence of the contradictions and their related objective regularities. He understood Africa’s objective demands and exigencies of the time and mobilized the people around them. It was not his charisma, which informed his success. It was his vision derived from a scientific analysis of the world around him which was nourished by the suffering of the African masses.

 

Nkrumah’s timely intervention was an important watershed in the global anti-imperialist struggle for the following reasons: Firstly, it introduced a new dimension to Africa’s struggle against foreign domination since the pre-­colonial struggle. Secondly, Ghana’s independence opened the flood gates to decolonization of the rest of colonial Africa. Thirdly, the Nkrumah led anti-colonial struggle in Ghana constitutes a very important chapter in the struggle of all oppressed people in the world. Finally, and perhaps, most important of all, Nkrumah’s achievement record is yet to be broken in Ghana. Though lapses which certainly led to his overthrow are regrettable, they constitute a good lesson for the progressive forces in Ghana and elsewhere.

 

Nkrumah has played his part. Currently, global capitalism is having a field day. That is the correlation of class forces globally seems to be in favour of reaction. The big question is; what is the way forward? The apparent inactivity of the progressive forces in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa is not only disturbing. It is also a betrayal of the ordinary people and all that Nkrumah stood for.

 The Nkrumaist front today

Today, Nkrumaist are deeply worried about the state Nkrumaist Movement in Ghana. It has been deeply infiltrated by all manner characters who have no political and ideological commitment to what Nkrumah stood and worked for. It is no uncommon these days to hear self-proclaimed “Nkrumaists” declaring that the times have changed and we should change with the times. They openly advocate the moribund ideology of the exploiting classes under guises such as, Tony Blair’s now discredited “Third Way” and some strange concept which they refer to as “dignitarianism”.

The world in which Nkrumah lived and worked has not changed substantially. It is still dominated by the forces of imperialism and the colonised people are still the drawers of water and hewers of wood. Our natural resources are still being plundered for the benefit of the former colonial powers and their elite. The working class in the advanced capitalist economics continue to suffer the same indignity of exploitation.

 

Those who insist that Nkrumaism is no longer relevant can do the most decent thing. They should leave the Nkrumaist movement alone and join the New Patriotic Party (NPP) or any of other political clubs destined for the dustbin of history. If  Nkrumaism is no longer  relevant, then what are they doing in Nkrumaist political parties.

 

Those of us who profess Nkrumaism and defend its socialist relevance must proclaim socialism as the only option available in the struggling masses. We must recognise that what we are seeing today is history repeating itself as farce largely due to our own passivity and unprincipled and unacceptable disunity. All the issues of political leadership that Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and the CPP confronted in the 40s, 1950s and 1960s are back on today’s political agenda. The difference is that unlike that period, the critical leadership that progressive forces provided is absent and imperialism is having a field day in our country and in our continent.

 

If we correctly identify the struggles of the fifties and sixties as struggles against imperialism and all its institutions we should not be bending over backwards to appear reasonable to our exploiters and to appease the managers of his institutions ­- IMF, World Bank, so-called development partners and our local elite. We cannot continue to confine ourselves to working professionally within NGOs or academia or media in ways that actually cut us off the masses and their striving. We must engage. And we must not restrict our struggles to the moribund political party structures. Our constitution and our political parties law has been designed to emasculate the masses and promote a culture of patronage that guarantees dominance by two parties equally committed to serving foreign imperialist interests.

 

We must, like Kwame Nkrumah before us, be willing to deepen that crisis and bring things to a head in a manner that allows the masses to resume their historic role in national development and to develop once again the kind of leadership needed to transform Ghana. Today, more than ever before, it has become imperative for the progressive forces to pool their resources and harness their energies for the onslaught against all manifestation of oppression and exploitation.

 

The World today is aff1icted by hunger and disease, vicious exploitation and senseless wars. We must stand together and demonstrate that another world build on the principles of social justice, mass democracy and peace is possible. It is important to focus on the essential issues of how to end poverty and to rein domination. We must produce workable alternatives to what the dominant class in offering and show that all the peoples of the world can and must have relevant education, healthcare and improved housing. This is the task of the Nkrumaist movement.

 

Kwesi Pratt is Editor of Insight, and a commentator on pan African and Global Affairs.

Funding Political Parties – to whose benefit? March 22, 2008

In parties we trust  
Political Parties and leadership in GhanaPolitical groupings have been part of the Ghanaian political landscape since the colonial era. The anti-colonial struggle was led largely by interest groups coalescing to act on behalf of the population, even at a time when there was no entity called Ghana. Even the then Gold Coast (as Ghana was known) was hardly a cohesive entity. However, there was a recognition by the intellectuals and elite of the period that colonial rule was an aberration which had to end at some point, and took steps to hasten the defeat of colonialism in Ghana. The Aborigines Rights Protection Society was one of such groups. When the United Gold Coast Conventional (UGCC) was formed by leading activists of the anti-colonial struggle, it was in realisation that only a united “party2 could work to dislodge colonialism. The UGCC disintegrated amidst the onslaught launched by Kwame Nkrumah and his new Convention Peoples Party (CPP). The UGCC metamorphosed into several forms, leading to the National liberation Movement, (NLM). Even though this coalition now calls itself the New Patriotic Party (NPP), its ideology remains the same. Parties in Ghana are therefore the result of mass popular struggles for succession to the colonial regime, and for a wider political mobilisation for freedom from poverty and colonial racism the and its divide and rule tactics. The above summary of a complex history shows that political parties have been and remain the main avenues for political mobilisation based on ideas and leadership. What has made Ghanaian parties relevant in both the pre-colonial and post colonial times have been their independence, the fact that they represent a constituency of ideas – even if they are ethnic abased. The NPP and its predecessor parties have been largely based on the dominant Akan groups in Ghana, drawing their support from cocoa farmers, traders and lawyers. The CPP, the ‘veranda boys’ also drew their support from immigrant populations in the Ashanti region, form the north and other social groups who considered themselves well enough and were therefore opposed to the ‘socialist’ policies of the CPP and Kwame Nkrumah. None of the above descriptions will apply to these parties today, as the NPP has become national, and some sections are beginning to reject the socialist foundations of the CPP. Their relevance is underscored by the fact that they exist to capture power for the groups they represent, and that has been their mainstay, even when the military has seized power, they survive, and live in the hope that they would return one day to capture power. Ghanaian parties are therefore social institutions and legitimising agents of political process and interest group networks who also promote a certain economic and political philosophy. That is the main difference between the Kwame Nkrumah family or Nkrumaists, and the Busia/Danquah  fraternity. Unlike other countries, parties in Ghana have institutional history and social roots. These parties have successfully built a committed cadre of leaders within a democratic process, no matter how flawed it may be, to represent their interests. The recent presidential aspirants nominations of the main arties – the NPP< CPP and NDC produced an impressive list of candidates, a process which was judged by most Ghanaians to be democratic. In Ghana, political parties are socio-political institutions that people recognise as their own, and therefore represent their interests. Parties remain the main interface between them and the state. Peoples see themselves as CPP, NPP, NDC (National Democratic Congress) and so on. During and after elections, parties become the main legitimising agents of government. Political parties are also primary legitimizing agents of the government and governing systems of the state. The social function and legitimizing role of political parties are under unprecedented strain. In Ghana, the process of the process of decolonisation was led by a conscious group of politicians who ensured the emergence of a people led, cohesive and democratic systems of governance under the leadership of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. The seeds for a viable multiparty democratic system was sown. The claims that the absence of a so-called “vibrant middle class” makes political parties less viable as vehicles of democracy is not supported by Ghana’s example.  To what extent do these parties or political institutions promote democracy? Undoubtedly, political parties remain the most crucial instruments for sustaining and promoting multi party democracy. But single party states can and do also promote democracy. In this case, I refer to the one party rules of Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana and Julius Nyerere in Tanzania. In the case of Ghana, a vibrant multiparty system, with multiple ideological and identity base helped to sustain, strengthen and underpin our brand of democracy, in the time of Kwame Nkrumah and recently, under the post military era. The CPP party of the left, and the NPP, a party with right wing liberal ideology, have contributed to making Ghana a viable multi party democracy. The Achilles heels of governance? In spite of this impressive record, parties in Ghana risk undermining their own role. The  increasing display of wealth and the use of financial inducements to attract votes during the recent NPP presidential aspirants contest was stomach churning and deeply offensive the ordinary supporters of the party. It created that impression that these parties are led by career politicians with a single point agenda of winning state power with all the privileges that come with it. This trend is not Ghana specific, even in the land of the ‘mothers of democracies’ (the UK), this trend is becoming the norm, as for the USA, politics will not be interesting without the millions of dollars they spend on getting themselves elected, and therefore beholden to vested interests. If parliamentary democracy is the route to accountability, democracy and a people based political system, parties remain the engine for this vehicle. As Akyaaba Addai-Sebo wrote in an essay recently, “national interest demands that leaders of political parties must also be representative voices in parliament. Experience is the best teacher as parliament becomes a veritable testing ground to mould statespersons widely respected for integrity and impartial concern for the public good. Leading politicians, especially party leaders, would serve their parties and the nation better through the platform that parliament presents. Parliament enjoins discipline – that efficiency of purpose.” Addai-Sebo continues: “political parties therefore have a duty to first think about what is best for Ghana and put forward candidates who through responsible service have proved that they can represent the national interest. In order to deepen representative governance presidential candidates must have had the experience of serving the needs and protecting the rights of their constituencies. They must really have a record of providing for the needs and meeting the aspirations of the people either at the constituency or national level through exemplary performance in public and/or private sector service. … Political parties consequently owe such a duty to the nation in the selection of candidates for national office.” If political parties are to oil this engine and provide parliamentary democracy with the human resources, it is important that the instruments for achieving this are not undermined by desk-bound academics and civil society activists who do not dare to take up the challenge. Civil society has a role, but it cannot replace political parties, and should not seek to undermine the legitimacy of political parties by their constant whining and headline grabbing antics.  Political parties should not also undermine their own role. If citizens are to trust their parties, they should be seen to be open and accountable. I do not think that foreign organisations should pay parties to play their role as is being proposed. Parties have existed in the past through membership contributions, making them accountable. If parties are funded by foreign non governmental organizations, they cease to be accountable to their own people. They become beholden to some foreign interest as they are forced to open their books for inspection, and will spend time writing “project reports” for their foreign funders. Foreign funding of groups who are likely to rule Ghana should not be encouraged. It undermines national sovereignty.  As Africa tooters towards finding our own brand of democracy, it is important to build institutions. Parliaments represent the people, but there can be no parliaments without political parties to provide the candidates and the wherewithal. But parties and those who represent them, should promote and protect national sovereignty, not undermine it by behaving like charities. Parties are not charities. Those foreign organisations fronting this policy of paying parties should be resisted and banned from doing so by parliament. Zaya Yeebo 

Poverty in Africa and the Aid Industry June 19, 2007

The Politics of poverty: Managing poverty without eradicating it Is Africa poor? The Economist magazine seems to think so. After all, in 2005, it described Africa as that “poverty-stricken continent.” (The Economist, Friday June 10^th 2005). Apart from the obvious generalization about a whole continent, such description gives succor to the colonial mentality that sees no interest in our strengths and development goals, but in our tribulations. Such patronizing and often insulting descriptions of Africa are not new. Describing Africa as “poverty stricken” does not only ignore the fact  that Africa is doing something about it, but also justifies the continuing exploitation in the name of humanitarian relief. If statistics alone were sufficient, I think we have enough proof. According to the United Nations, 8 million children die each year because of poverty, 150 million children under the age of five suffer from extreme malnutrition, and 100 million children live in the streets. Every three seconds, poverty kills a child somewhere. About 3 billion people receive only about 1.2% of the world’s income, while 1 billion people in the rich countries receive 80%. In a recent document, the UN restated these grim facts: “Currently 4.8 million children in sub-Saharan Africa die before the age of five every year – that is, nine deaths every minute. With one fifth of the world’s births, sub-Saharan Africa currently accounts for 45% of child deaths. … If current trends continue, there will be 5.1 million deaths in 2015, with Africa’s share rising to 57% of the total.” Such statistics provide grim reading. Even without these figures, the reality that confronts anybody with a fleeting interest in the life of people will notice it everywhere in Africa. Social and economic  chaos, poverty, misery, youth unemployment and general unacceptable levels of deprivation.  These grim statistics stand in contrast to the political improvements that Africa has seen of late. At no time in African history has the continent scored such high points in its democratisation process. Successful elections, high voter turn out, functioning parliaments, the mushrooming of political parties, increasing NGOs and civil society organizations. In spite of these successes at the political front, and the immense advantages which globalisation has offered other regions, poverty is increasing daily in Africa. As things stand today, it would be churlish to assume this trend can be reversed within our lifetime without a fundamental rethink.  For decades to come, we will be debating why and how Africa is poor. Poverty, like most concepts, also suffers from a lack of understanding of what it really entails. More often than not, the people who define it, and lead the struggle against it, are coming from a position of affluence, and from a cultural mindset that inhibits their clarity of understanding. For example, all talk about poverty is reduced to how incomes corresponds to the US dollar. For example what odes it means to say that Niger is poor because its farmers earn less than one dollar a day. How does Niger’s situation compare with that of Ghana? Such bogus comparisons may have meaning for some faceless bureaucrats at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but to someone working to make sense of how people life in such abject misery, it is absolute bunkum. The problems of African farmers, youth, women, and citizens in general cannot be compared simply to another country’s currency, no matter how many smart bombs that country possesses. Some African leaders ignore the grim reality that the above statistics provide. Indeed, in some cases, people are advised to put it with it. Of course, there is another Africa that makes the talks of poverty and demands for social justice seem unnecessary and uncalled for. The roads of some African cities like Nairobi, Accra, Abuja, are full of the most expensive jeeps and 4×4 cars, Benzes, etc. Our politicians and business classes build mansions, have access to the best goods on the market and live in luxury which Europeans will envy if only they knew. This is the Africa nobody talks about. But that is hardly the point. The hard truth is that poverty is stalking the people of Africa under a global system which is supposed to promote equality, social justice and shared values. The global struggle against poverty has two fronts: the global and the Africa. On the global front, anti-poverty programmes are influenced largely by a mindset which is alien to the African cultural milieu in which grim poverty thrives. It is within this context that the use of the term “alleviating” has a particular flavour. How would a poor farmer in Mozambique or the Democratic Republic of the Congo want us to deal with poverty? What does it mean to tell a child who has only one meal a day that all that we can do is to alleviate his or her suffering? Do we really want to abolish the suffering or merely to ameliorate it?   Analysing poverty has become an industry and an end in itself not a means of understanding it.  Government and institutional libraries are bulging with volumes of reports analyzing  poverty. Yet, one would be hard pressed to find any durable and Africa-led solutions in these volumes. Western development agencies like  the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) has spent more money on poverty Consultants, researchers, and analysts, than it has spent on actual poverty  eradication programmes in my village Kongo (Ghana). I dare DFID to  disprove this. The response to poverty in Africa itself has many contradictions. In rural Africa, poor men, women and youth are too busy trying to stay alive. Most of whom are even unaware that governments are supposed to help them find jobs, gain access to schools and primary health care. The resilience of these people should be celebrated and not questioned. From my experience, poverty is not a reflection of  poor people’s inability to stand up for themselves, or the inability of poor people to compete in a free-for-all society as demanded by the axis of economic evils: IMF and World Bank and multinational corporations.  Infact, poor people’s resilience to their conditions is a mark worthy of study. Most poor people have, from the cradle to the grave, relied on their own creativity, intuition  and wit to survive. Most poor people  in most African countries will not have contact with a “government” (except in election time when they will probably see a desperate politician).   Corrupting society Unable to deal with the structural causes of the problem, some ingenious souls have now imposed another problem on Africans. That of corruption. Some have even suggested that corruption is a  major cause of conflict in African. Anti-corruption industries are creeping up everywhere in Africa today, once again led by self imposed apostles of politician-bashing NGOs and civil society organisations.  The current euphoria about corruption is not new. In the 1970s – 1980s, every coup maker used it as a legitimate excuse  for overthrowing a civilian government. Ghana represents the most extreme of these examples. Infact, no African country has goner to such brazen lengths to deal with supposed cases of corruption. The result is almost nauseating. In 1979, the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) regime, led by the now retired Jerry Rawlings, tied up and executed several army officers, including three former Heads of State (General Afrifa, General Kutu Acheampong and  General Akuffo), for alleged cases of corruption. That has not done much for the anti-corruption crusade in Ghana.  Rawlings, who led this execution, was later to preside over one of the most corrupt governments in Ghana to date – the Provisional National Defence Council regime and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) governments.  It is important to acknowledge that corruption is a problem in many cases, but the extent to which this phenomenon contributes to increasing poverty is not proven. Italy, and in some cases, the EU bureaucracy has been accused of corruption in the media, yet, there is not huge industry of latter day saints setting up huge offices to combat it. This statement will no doubt irritate and irk those African intellectuals who have become apologists for Rawlings and his excesses. It is worth repeating: the whole Rawlings era, and the Rawlings government, is one of the most corrupt periods in Ghanaian history. The number of homeless children in Ghana today, the sight of dilapidated hospitals (e.g. the Tamale hospital in Ghana) and clinics, and the extreme poverty in rural Ghana speaks volumes. Rawlings spread the poison of dishonesty, deceit, corruption, dishonor and mistrust in Ghanaian society. His whole period has been a weapon of moral destruction in Ghana. Yet, there is no evidence that a state-led anti-corruption bureaucracy will change the situation in Ghana. State bureaucracies will not eliminate nor stop people from being corrupt.  However, what is new about the current spate of anti-corruption initiatives’ is the amount of resources being spent, and the fact that it is now a “donor-driven” (to use a common cliché) agenda.  Corruption is a symptom or if you like a malaise of the whole process of underdevelopment, and the failure of the neocolonial agenda. To take money which should have been spent on building primary schools to get children into school or clinics for children and mothers, to set up huge bureaucratic machines – called “anti-corruption commissions”, or so-called “accountability centres”  while ordinary people, especially, children,  die for lack of drugs, is to say the least sickening, and does not deal with the problems at all.  Infact this whole anti-corruption agenda is a mere fiddle to make us look the other way while multi-national corporations and their African supporters make away with the wealth of the people. The numerous workshops and press releases on corruption are just another gimmick to hoodwink the people that something is being done, while in actual fact, the leaders of civil society, and the politicians they criticize meet at the junction of plenty, from which they drink from the same water point. The foreign donors who prop them up are part of the same web of deception. It will have no impact because the structural causes of poverty and why people are prone to corruption are not being addressed. That is why I refuse to fall for this gigantic  con-trick being perpetuated  today.Contrary to what Western governments would have us believe, poverty does not persist solely because of incompetent, corrupt governments that are insensitive to the fate of their people. No. Poverty persists because of historical problems created by colonialism, neo-colonialism and now in a global world in which more resources are  spent on killing machines than on pro-poor programmes.   For the past two decades, development experts have held the view that if NGOs, faith groups, and international organisations build primary schools, clinics, dig bore holes, and wells, etc, the lives of the poor in Africa will improve. The number of NGOs in Africa and globally  seem to confirm this optimistic view. Undoubtedly, some of the organisations have made some positive contribution to peoples lives. Others have a made a complete mess in these attempts.  The reality is no matter how many wells are dug in Bukina Faso and  Mali, no matter how many income generation programmes are fronted, and no matter how many workshops are held in the affluent parts of Accra, their overall impact on poverty is at best paltry. It also appears that the more aid money is poured into a country, the more lethargic the government becomes, and the poorer the people. In the 1960s and early 1970s, Ghanaians were  better off relatively  than they are today, yet there were fewer NGOs and little donor money. Today, there are too many NGOs, lots of donor money, yet the people are poorer. Explain that to me.  The reason for this is that many of the programmes that are required to break away from the cycle of poverty are frowned upon. NGOs do not deal with the structural causes of poverty, workshops don’t. Actual improvement in education, health, housing, the agricultural sector, basic industries to provide employment, is the avenue to eradicating poverty. But IMF structural adjustments have ensured that government support to education, health, food production and welfare, have been removed completely. Yet, it is an investment in these areas that will improve the quality of live, and ensure that we begin that fateful road to a government supported welfare state. NGOs do not build roads and hospitals (they may build health centres and train local midwives). But to what extent do such local interventions lead eventually to eradicating poverty? Very little. International NGOs and their Ghanaian counterparts are good at managing people’s poverty, not at eradicating it. Government intervention in school and health infrastructure, improvement in the road system, support to local entrepreneurs, should be the answer to eradicating poverty in Africa. I take my example from the early years of the Kwame Nkrumah government in Ghana. Kwame Nkrumah and his Convention Peoples Party (1954 – 1966) undertook an ambitious and radical reshaping of Ghana, building the foundations of one of the most admirable welfare states in African history. This was demonized after the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency – US) overthrew the Nkrumah government in 1966.  I know it is common for people to fall for imperialist and local propaganda about the Kwame Nkrumah administration. Claims that this government was repressive and corrupt is absolute nonsense. Did it deal with the problems of poverty? Did it respond to the needs of children’s education in Ghana? Did it lay the foundations for self reliance? Did it make an impact on the anti-colonial struggle? The answer to all these questions  is YES. No Ghanaian government has achieved so much in a short a little time. It is no wonder that Kwame Nkrumah remains a giant among African leaders. In essence, we need to return to the early days of African independence in which our founding fathers tired to instill in us a sense of national and patriotic pride and love for Africa. Nations are built on these foundations.  What the Nkrumah era shows is that if the state and our governments respond to the most pressing problems facing people of every country through targeted welfare programmes, corruption will cease to have an attraction to people. Create a poverty-ridden society, remove the moral fabric of that society through IMF-supervised and led structural adjustments, and corruption will thrive. 

(c) Zaya Yeebo – June 2007    

How the Aid Industry Promotes Poverty June 8, 2007

 A  new book, “The White man’s Burden” by professor of Economics at New York University, and a former employee of the World Bank argues that international development aid has become part of the problem of global poverty and not the solution. Care International, one of the global leaders of the aid industry, has also released a report, ‘Living on the Edge of Emergency — An Agenda for Change’ which also argues that “More than 120-million Africans face starvation because much of the £3-billion ($5,6-billion) in aid spent each year to help them is wasted.”  According to Care International, “aid arrives too late, is targeted at the wrong things and is usually only a short term measure that doesn’t tackle the root cause of hunger…It is a disgrace that money is still given too late and for such short periods, then spent on the wrong things to truly fight emergencies … There is no excuse, when by spending money more intelligently, we can bring an end to all but the most unpredictable food crises” said Geoffrey Dennis, CARE’s chief executive.  The statistics are quite disturbing. In the last 50 years, more than $2.3 trillion has been spent as development aid. So why are African children dying for lack of medicine costing less than $2?  There are those who insist that contrary to the facts, history is not the cause of our poverty, but I am not one of them. Colonialism, neo-colonialism and now, globalisation, are the causes of this disturbing trend. The problem is that any attempts to take an independent path, free of this aid strings that tie us into other people cesspits, is always frowned upon by our new crop of leaders, and sabotaged by the international system led by the United States.   Why has aid not helped to transform African economies? Why is it that the more aid a country gets, the more impoverished the people become. I ask these questions as someone which has worked in the aid industry for over 30 years. My first job after my post graduate studies was at the Upper Regional Agricultural Development Programme (URADEP), a World Bank-DFID programme for farmers in the Upper east region. Does anybody in the region remember FASCOM? In essence, we go back to the question posed by William Easterly in his book: that, “the West’s efforts to aid have done so much ill and so little good.” He gives examples like the Millennium Development Goals  (MDGs) whose stated goal is to halve word poverty by 2015.  However, his conclusions, are as porous as his attempts to be radical. It is true that the aid industry is full of grandiose policies and costly, and sometimes ineffectual  campaigns like the MDGs, but what do they actually achieve? One of such western liberal projects is the Millennium Villages idea. What does this mean? In essence, what  some western practitioners do is to plagiarise African initiatives, redress them in grandiose terms, sell them to donors, and make them sound as though this will solve the world’s problems. In the end, they don’t. Western NGOs, like their state-led development organisations,   refuse to learn from their mistakes. Donor-led initiatives have a very short life span – they begin and end with donor money. When the funding comes to an end, the project dies with it. Secondly, in the last 20 years in Africa, development aid has been limited to workshops, workshops and workshops, led by the new NGO elites. Most of this has no practical relevance to poverty reduction. African NGOs are not blame. The priorities for aid and donor support are set in Washington, London, The Hague, and other western capitals. Africans are only invited to consultation meetings where what is discussed hardly features in the final reports. This is because aid is tied to the foreign policy interests of western donor nations.   Organisations which call themselves non-governmental, receive more than 80%of their funding from the state: UK government, the US State Department, or the Danish Foreign Ministry, etc, etc. So even though some western NGOs may pretend to be ‘non-governmental’, they are governmental in practice. The Oxfams, Care International, International Rescue Committees, etc, etc, are closer to their governments than most African NGOs will ever be. Yet, I have been in meetings where African NGOs are derided and patronised by the their international counterparts because these African NGOs are supposedly close to their governments. At any rate, what is wrong with being close to a government? Look at the priorities of most donor organisations, and you will not fail to notice that building schools, health centres, day care centres,  or social centres do not top the list of their priorities. Since September 11, US aid has tended to favour organisations working to eliminate ‘terrorism’, but what about the causes of terrorism? What this implies is that western donors have the money, and they together with their cohorts, dictate how this money is spent. Governments such as that of the NPP follow suit, and behave as though poverty is not the reason why they sign the Millennium Challenge Accounts. If this is the case, northern Ghana will receive more than 60%of this grant, but what has happened?