No "Politics" on Campuses: form civic associations instead- Prof Ninsin

Front Page: January 10, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Director of Research of the Institute of Democratic Governance, Professor Kwame Ninsin, has kicked against the formation of wings of political parties in the various tertiary institutions.
He explained that the political wings on the campuses of our tertiary institutions only served as breeding grounds for future leaders to learn the tricks of manipulating the populace during elections, how to steal and work against the national interest.
Contributing to a discussion on, “Deepening Democratic Culture in Ghana”, in Accra yesterday, he said students in the tertiary institutions should be encouraged to form civic associations to learn the rights and responsibilities enshrined in the Constitution and how to rise up to defend them.
The discussion was part of the ongoing 59th Annual New Year School being organised by the Institute of Adult Education of the University of Ghana, Legon, on the theme, “Tertiary Education and National Development”.
Prof Ninsin said the formation of the civic clubs would serve as a forum to discuss the rights enshrined in the Constitution and the well-being of the citizenry, so that the students could take the government to task on its responsibilities.
In that way, he said, Ghana would be building the capacity to cherish and defend the country’s democracy.
Prof Ninsin, who is also a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Political Science of the University of Ghana, Legon, said democracy was not just about elections or people speaking their minds but a collection of a body of rights, including free speech, voting and association.
He said it was the responsibility of the state to ensure that the citizenry enjoyed those rights and explained that it was only when the citizenry knew about those rights that the government could not take them for granted.
He cited, for instance, the situation where there had been talk about decentralisation, although everything was centralised.
Prof Ninsin said the district assemblies and sub-units needed to be restructured and strengthened and the staff motivated to encourage local participation, as it was intended to be.
Contributing to the discussion, Dr Kumi Ansah-Koi, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Political Science of the University of Ghana, Legon, said the country could consider the issue of mandatory voting, as pertained in Australia to address the low voter turn-out at local elections.
He said another issue for consideration could be proportional representation, as pertained in Germany and Israel.
Dr Ansah-Koi also proposed for debate the amendment of the Constitution to empower institutions such as the Legislature to function more effectively.
He said it was also important for the independence of the Electoral Commission (EC) to be guaranteed through financial autonomy and security of staff and prevent the declaration of results by political parties, as occurred in 2004.
He said the state must also address the issue of party financing and enforce the laws on party financing, especially the provisions on foreign support.
Dr Ansah-Koi said another major issue which needed to be addressed to deepen democracy was the gender imbalance in the political system, saying the country could address the problem through either a quota system or affirmative action.
He said democracy was not a computer process which needed to be manipulated to make it perfect, noting that there was no perfect democracy anywhere in the world and that it required the will and determination of the populace to entrench it.
A Deputy Chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mrs Augustina Akosua Akumanyi, said the commission had, with its limited resources, formed more than 2,000 civic clubs in second-cycle schools throughout the country.
She said the clubs were meant for the members to study and discuss the Constitution.
She said what needed to be addressed seriously are the attitudinal problems of Ghanaians in relation to punctuality, honesty, patriotism, among others.