Political alliances in Ghana – Relook at the SMDP System

It is difficult not to love someone or an institution that first loved you.

This is the reality of most of us in Ghana. We look favourably towards governments within whose tenure, we were appointed into public office, or even promoted. No one should blame such.

I personally do not blame these tendencies, I may behave the same way if I had been in those shoes. Loyalties like this are even found in the judiciary just as Professor Raymond Atuguba sometime ago disclosed in a survey he had conducted.

In Atuguba’s observation, Supreme Court judges turn to favour, in their rulings, governments who appointed them. The then Chief Justice and other judicial authorities descended heavily on the learned professor.

My own observations, even within the military, came to the same conclusion. All human institutions suffer from this frailty. If you have not realised it, I have just defined politics in some detail, as I wish to discuss Ghana’s electoral system. I have used W. Phillips Shively’s notion of political choice in his book – Intro to Political Science (1997).

Ghana’s electoral system is among the group called the single-member district plurality or the SMDP electoral system. This electoral system allows voters to elect one legislator in each of the 275 districts while electing only one President overall. Our electoral system, however, has some serious flaws, it leads to winner takes all and weakens small political parties.

In the last general elections, if my memory serves me right, the NDC Presidential candidate got 47.2% and the winner had 51.2% or so. Our electoral system expects 47.2% of Ghanaians to have no or little say in governance while just 51.2% of us pull the strings for the first four years and then, another four years if the electorate so desires. This is not fair.

Fortunately, this electoral system is also operated elsewhere, such as the USA, to some extent, Nigeria, the UK and I think, Canada. So we have some basis for comparison. The other undesirable consequences of this electoral system are that it leaves just two large parties to alternate power between themselves. Examples abound.

The Republicans and the Democrats in the US, NPP and NDC in Ghana, Conservatives and Labour in the UK and so on. My mind tells me that the alternative to this electoral system must be the proportional representative type. This system assures proportional distribution of governance among political parties, depending on their performances in the election. Nigeria has a bit of this within their SMDP.

The mayor of Lagos, a few years ago was from the opposition party, not the government party. I read that his performance was outstanding. So that the opposition will carry some responsibility and not always look for the chance to criticise the government. The performance of the opposition will also be in the limelight. The fear of the opposition sabotaging government, therefore, will not arise.

President Akufo-Addo’s idea to surrender his presidential power to choose district chief executives to the people in the districts is a laudable one. Those who opposed the President’s idea do not want the district elections to be based on political parties.

The idea of conducting the district-level elections on a partisan basis is relevant if we are to take advantage of the benefits such elections give to small and weak political parties. As earlier mentioned, one of the weaknesses of the SMDP electoral system as practised in Ghana and elsewhere, is the suppression of small parties.

Elections at district levels, where these weak parties hold some sway would catapult them into positions of responsibility through the holding of offices in governance, even if at district levels only. Eventually, these small political entities would blossom into bigger parties to enhance political pluralism in Ghana.

I will strongly advocate the rewriting or amendments to our current constitution to inculcate the proportional representation bit in order to end the present two Trojan horse political dispensation we have.

Proportional representation, as a political system, would also enhance the equitable distribution of national wealth. Supporters and sympathisers of the two political parties who alternate political power between themselves would be forced to share the political goodies with other Ghanaians.

In retrospect, it can be said that Ghanaians, like all other humans, turn to associate with institutions which first give them advantages in the form of appointments and promotions in life. This show of loyalty applies even to the judiciary as well as the military, the last institutions where humans are least expected to show biases.

Politics in Ghana, through the current electoral system of SMDP, discriminates in favour of two political parties who hitherto have been alternating political power between themselves. The winner, under this electoral system, enjoys all the advantages in governance.

This unfair state of political dispensation can be corrected in Ghana by the adoption of the proportional representation system in elections. Proportional representation would help small and weak parties grow.

Changing the present constitution is the only way to adopt a proportional representation of political parties in our electoral system.

Furthermore, proportional representation, as an electoral system, would also enhance the equitable distribution of the national cake. This cake is in the form of political advantages accruing to party supporters and sympathisers on winning elections.

This article is dedicated to the memory of my friend, Alhaji M.N.D Jawula, who first saw the value of it, and asked for its wide circulation.