Justice of the Appeals Court, His Lordship Justice Edward Amoako Asante says the practice of democracy and rule of law in Africa, especially in Ghana has failed to serve its intended purpose.
He explains that there are a plethora of challenges in applying democracy to rule of law in the Ghanaian system.
“I have personally said democracy is not good for us. When I visited China, Beijing for almost three weeks, they had a unique system of governance which is working for them… this winner takes all issue is extremely bad for us… It is the worst part of democracy,” he said.
To him, it is time to modify the democratic and rule of law governance system to align with the African traditional governance system.
But he said it is “not necessarily the chiefs becoming overlords, but then being able to fashion something out to govern ourselves with all the respect; because we all know that respect has eluded us in this country and maybe the whole continent.”
His Lordship Justice Edward Amoako Asante was speaking at the 9th Jurists’ Confab organized by the Faculty of Law at the University of Cape Coast.
It was on the theme: Consolidating Democracy, the Rule of Law and Respect for the Ballot in an Era of Good Governance”
The Jurists’ Confab is an annual program that brings together the Bar, Bench, and academia to deliberate topical legal issues affecting Ghana’s legal and democratic system.
His Lordship Justice Asante, who is also the President of the ECOWAS Court, added that to promote the rule of law in Ghana and Africa properly, there is the need to build strong institutions and respect and protect the voting right of citizens.
On her part, the Immediate past Dean of the Faculty of Law at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Professor Lydia Nkansah said African countries have had bitter experiences of several coup d’états.
She, therefore, called for safeguarding the current democratic dispensations on the continent.
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Source: Eric Sekyi/ATLFMNEWS
