Ghana’s fourth republic, which was born in 1993, has so far been the most stable democracy the country has experienced after deadly post-independence military adventurisms.
Since the inception of the Fourth Republic on January 7, 1993 Ghana has seen five distinct presidential administrations led by five individuals.Following the 2024 general election, John Dramani Mahama assumed office on January 7, 2025 for his second non-consecutive term.
The administrations of the Fourth Republic are: Jerry John Rawlings (NDC): 1993–2001 (Two terms), John Agyekum Kufuor (NPP): 2001–2009 (Two terms), John Evans Atta Mills (NDC): 2009–2012 (Died in office), John Dramani Mahama (NDC): 2012–2017 (Took over 2012, elected 2012), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (NPP): 2017–2025 (Two terms) and John Dramani Mahama (NDC): 2025–Present.
Although President Mahama is serving his second separate term, the Fourth Republic is considered to have had six administrations, led by five people, with the NDC and NPP alternating power.
Globally, Ghana has earned a reputation as a democratic state, serving as one of the pre-eminent nations on the continent, which other nations turn to as a module of democracy.However, beneath this stable fourth republic and stable democracy lies corruption, which is driving Ghana’s democracy into a ditch.
Over the years, elections in this Republic, especially party primaries, by-elections, assembly elections and other elections have veered off from the tenets of democracy into money sharing, which is loosely termed as ‘moneycracy’, raising questions about the sources of these funds.
The Chronicle is, therefore, not surprised that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has decided to investigate the recent New Patriotic Party (NPP) Presidential primary and Ayawaso West Constituency primary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
During the NPP presidential primary, Ghanaians were told of how money were shared, thanks to videos that surfaced on social media platforms. Delegates were seen on video footages fighting over money allegedly offered to them by some of the contestants.
Whilst Ghanaians were brooding over this democratic backwardness, the governing NDC muddied the waters further during the Ayawaso East primary with aspiring candidates sharing all manner of gifts like television sets and motorbikes among others.
The Chronicle finds these developments from the NPP and NDC disturbing and retrogression as far as Ghana’s future is concerned.
Unfortunately, current statutes including PNDC Law 284 and the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), apply to offences committed in public elections and do not expressly cover internal party contests. This gap has been cited as a reason allegations arising from party primaries are not prosecuted.
Pressure group, OccupyGhana, has, over the years, called for amendments to extend the law on misconduct to include internal elections, but to no avail.
It is upon the basis of this that we welcome the Private Member’s Bill filed by Ohene Kwame Frimpong, MP for Asante Akyem North. The Bill aims to reduce the rising cost of politics, curb corruption and stop vote-buying in both internal party primaries and general elections. It is our hope that every Ghanaian that believes in the entrenchment of democracy will support this Bill to deal with the situation once and for all.
It appears to us that our democracy is on sale and only the big spending people can buy, which is a very dangerous precedence we should all avoid.
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