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The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Klottey Korle in the Greater Accra Region, Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, has described the Fourth Republic as resilient.
She said the several transitions of power from one elected party to another, as well as the current hung Parliament, were testament to the public’s changing view on how democracy should play out.
Dr Agyeman-Rawlings made the assertion when she spoke as a panellist at the Munich Security Conference held in Munich, Germany.
A statement issued by her office said she also stressed the need for clear legislation on campaign financing to prevent illicit money being used to bankroll political campaigns.
It said Dr Agyeman-Rawlings stated that the democratic reversals in parts of the West African sub-region were a direct result of the failure of some governments “to provide inclusivity, good governance and essential amenities to their citizens in a timely and equitable fashion.”
It said the MP indicated that the failure of governments to deliver on good governance offered the opportunity for anyone who provided a bit of what a community needed to win their trust.
“Someone who has an agenda comes into a community that does not have water and electricity, provides water and somehow makes them have access to electricity, whether it is by generators or whatever it is; that community does not see that person as a terrorist, does not see that person as a violent extremist,” she observed.
“Despite whatever criteria we use to judge who those people are, if governments fail to deliver on good governance, what it keeps doing is further eroding the trust that people will have in the system we call democracy,” the statement quoted her to have said.
On the issue of the dangers of artificial intelligence and fake news as a tool for derailing democratic processes, she pointed out that Ghana’s population of about 33 million has a very high mobile phone penetration which allows for easy dissemination of news (fake or real) necessitating the need for the country to intensify cybersecurity efforts.
On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Dr Agyeman-Rawlings was elected a co-chair of the Global Network of Women Legislators in Defence, Security and Peace (WLID).
The WLID is a growing network of more than 50 legislators from more than 25 countries on four continents.
