Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Klottey Korle, has complimented the resilience of Ghana’s Fourth Republic.
She said the transitions of power from one elected party to another as well as the current hung parliament were testaments to the public’s changing view on how democracy should play out.
Dr Agyeman-Rawlings said this at the Munich Security Conference held in Munich, Germany from February 16 to 18, a statement issued by her Office, copied to the Ghana News Agency on Friday, said.
She advocated a clear legislation on campaign financing to prevent illicit money being used to bankroll political campaigns.
‘The democratic reversals in parts of the West African sub-region are 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,’ she said.
The Klottey Korle MP said failure of governments to deliver on good governance gave the op
portunity for anyone who offered 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 said.
‘In spite of whatever criteria we use to judge who those people are, if governments fail to actually deliver on good governance, what it keeps doing is further eroding the trust that people will have in the system we call democracy.’
On the issue of the dangers of AI and fake news as a tool for derailing Ghana’s democratic processes, she noted that Ghana’s population of about 33 million had a very high mobile phone penetration, which allowed for easy dissemination of news (fake or real) necessitating the need for the country to intensify cybersecurity efforts.
Speaking on the topic, ‘Autocratic Trade Trap:
Has the West lost its moral compass?’ Dr Agyeman-Rawlings said companies in the advanced economies could engage in technology exchange by building the capacity of the less endowed countries to help them develop green and renewable technologies.
‘The essence of a moral compass is to what extent such developed countries have the conscience to say a certain percentage of what we’re doing is not going to be about profits, it is going to be about equity, about how we try to level the playing field,’ she said.
‘The reality is that Africa produces less than 10 per cent of the world’s global emissions and yet it is the most vulnerable.’
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 over 25 countries on four continents.
It is an initiative to harness the experiences of women legislators active in policy debates related to
defence, security and peace to: Exchange approaches, provide mentorship and share information on legislative frameworks.
Others are to identify interventions and provide research support to further enhance the contribution of women to more inclusive, peaceful, and prosperous societies.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Vice-President Kamala Harris of the United States; Mr Antony Blinken, United States Secretary of State; Mrs Hilary Clinton, a former US Secretary of State, and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown were among the high-level personalities who attended the conference.
Source: Ghana News Agency