THE DANGEROUSLY DWINDLING POWER OF THE STATE IN GHANA: THE AMBUSH OF THE POPULIST
Every morning before I set off to work, I say a silent prayer in anticipation of the high level of consternation I will encounter on the road. Growing up as a young boy in the late nineties, the power of the State was very visible to my young untrained mind even in my far way village, hundreds of miles from Accra, the capital city. Historically a lot of power was concentrated in the centre and most of the early post-independence era saw the attempt by the state to shape our national discourse and national values.
I was pleasantly surprised during my road trip around the country a couple of months ago. One thing I recognized across the length and breadth of the country as I journeyed was the growing spate of indiscipline and a general mistrust of politicians. The advent of technology and our very high level of electric power penetration means information is now widely available to large sections of the populace. This is driven by a local news culture that is largely a rehashing of the opinions of broadcasters rather than facts and a general opaque governance structure. It is however interesting to note how ineffective the state has become as an agent of change in our national life now. It is appalling to observe the inertia of the state when it comes to law enforcement. Perhaps this inability to enforce the laws and steer national conversations about the true state of affairs stem from weak accountable structures within the public service itself. For instance, politicians cannot make a genuine case for increased taxation when they enjoy a lot of ‘freebies’ within the same economy.
During my spare moments when browsing on social media, one of the things I do a lot is the reading of comments on the social media pages of the major news portals. The most important lesson I have learnt from this is the belief of most Ghanaians that the state has the capacity in terms of financial resources to undertake all kinds of expenditure. This thinking is reaffirmed when one reads about the picketing of nursing and teacher training graduates demanding ‘instant employment’ from the government. It is even ridiculous to learn the government still require these nurses to sign bonds of serving in the country between three to five years after graduation. In the not too distant past, such a policy was the rational thing to do to curtail the brain drain that bedeviled those sectors. It gets even more ridiculous when you realize government in most cases doesn’t even have the fiscal space to employ these trainees a year or two after graduation. What is stopping the government then from scraping the ‘bonding and automatic posting’ regime to save itself from the needless agitations. I am not oblivious of the overlapping convergence of politics and economics when it comes to public policy formulation in a democracy but it is quite insane to keep doing the same thing when it is undermining the very essence of our political stability. For all of Mr. Mahama’s failings, the one thing I strongly supported him on was the cancellation of the trainee allowances. However, once he dithered on the implementation of the other aspects of the policy, he lost the moral authority to defend his decision when it became a topical issue in the general elections of 2016.
This increasing sense of entitlement and growing expectation on the state to provide every conceivable thing on earth must be a source of worry to the Ghanaian politician and every public policy enthusiast. We must embark on an aggressive campaign to re-orientate the minds of our people to understand the limit of the state to meet the huge public infrastructure deficit, spending on social intervention programmes and still become a guarantee of sustainable employment in the economy. As it stands now, we spend about 45% of our tax revenue on just salaries, wages and compensation. We spend between 30% to 35% on interest payments annually. In 2008, we were spending Gh¢780 million on interest payments. As at the end of 2016, we were spending Gh¢16.08 billion on this same expenditure item. This leaves us with a very constrained fiscal space to undertake other equally important assignment. This makes it imperative on politicians to be candid when making political promises. Politics and economic management is really a matter of choice between priorities. Politicians therefore owe it as a duty to make sure citizens continue to hold absolute belief in the state. Whether in power or opposition, truth should be the cardinal principle in politicking in the country. I know I am stretching my imagination beyond the normal in a country where we can’t even agree on facts or the opinion of experts.
I know I might get accused of holding brief for politicians but the truth is inasmuch as I believe in activism, I also believe in the sanctity of data and integrity in the political process. I must add that I don’t seek to absolve the political class from blame in our current quagmire. Indeed, much of the blame should be laid at the doorstep of the politician. Most politicians once they find themselves in opposition throw all ideological principles to the back-burner in their quest to recapture power.The roots of populism are usually multi-faceted but primarily economic. It usually finds expression in the pronouncements of national figures and opinion leaders. It is for this reason I find it very hard to understand political figures who mount platforms to make speeches that are full of dummy stuff. What do we seek to achieve by destabilizing the very system we seek to govern? Well maybe most of our politicians are anarchists.
In 2017 we spent GH¢17.3bn on the wage bill alone. GH¢1.8bn of this amount goes to pay for senior and junior political office holders. This may not appear too high on the face of it but does it real represent value for money? To arrest the impending chaos, it is important political office holders are seen sacrificing a great deal for the benefit of the country.
We are a people who hardly accept responsibility for our actions. We are constantly blaming others for our misfortune. Whereas we are vocal in demanding for the provision of public goods from the government, only a tiny few are interested in honouring their tax obligations. How many of us ensured our wedding planners, photographers, and caterers paid taxes on their earnings? A few days ago I was in a conversation with a top civil servant when I broached the idea of an environmental tax on plastic manufacturers to him. Whereas there is a willingness to do this on the part of the tax authorities, their political bosses aren’t so keen on it and the reason is pretty obvious. I am not sure how we intend to arrest the plastic menace that is threatening to take over our ocean, rivers, streams and land. Just take a stroll along any stretch of road in Ghana and you will see what I’m talking about. People dispose of single-use plastic bags, plastic bottles, water sachets etc. without any regard for the environment. It is even more appalling when you see people throwing them out of moving cars on the highway. Is it genuine ignorance, lack of awareness or plain irresponsibility? One is often tempted to think we live under a ‘laissez-faire’ system rather than a democracy.
Whilst I sympathize with politicians sometimes with regards to undertaking reforms in most African countries; the process can get excruciatingly painful and politically suicidal at times. I however reject completely any excuse for inaction. Failing to tell voters the truth about the challenges of the country will only give comfort to the democratic system today but may pose an existential threat tomorrow. The more we keep postponing the remedy, the more we strengthen the populist narrative gaining prominence across the globe. Restoring the power and lustre of the Ghanaian state will require a lot of hard work, determination, discipline and sacrifice on the part of both political leadership and the citizenry. However, it is incumbent on leadership to take the lead and carry the citizenry along. Whilst I support the efforts of government to raise more revenue through taxation; it sometimes becomes disheartening to learn of other frivolous expenditures like, ‘the supposed building of a national cathedral etc. Perhaps it is time we recognize the importance of using the power of the state to create the kind of society we want rather than using it to perpetuate an inequality regime across the country.