President John Dramani Mahama has emphasized that democracy cannot be sustained unless it delivers real development to citizens.
Speaking at the Democracy Dialogue 2025 in Accra, he noted that strong institutions must go hand in hand with social and economic progress if democracies are to survive.
“We must strengthen institutions, independent courts, parliaments and our electoral bodies. The second is that we must deliver development, because democracy without development, democracy without roads, democracy without schools, hospitals and jobs will always be at risk,” President Mahama said.
He outlined five key factors that contribute to the collapse of democratic systems: weak institutions that fail to protect citizens’ rights, corruption and elite capture that erode public trust, exclusion and inequality that alienate citizens, leadership deficits that undermine legitimacy, and external pressures that exploit vulnerabilities.
President Mahama drew from history to underscore his point, citing examples of democratic collapse and renewal in Latin America, Asia, and Europe.
He referenced the rise of fascism in 1930s Europe, military juntas in Latin America during the 1970s, and the dangers of militarism in Myanmar, while also highlighting the resilience of South Korea and Taiwan in combining democracy with economic growth.
Quoting Czech statesman Vaclav Havel, he reminded participants that “democracy is not something that occurs once for all. It must be fought for every day.”
He also invoked Abraham Lincoln’s famous words, stressing that “government of the people, by the people, for the people” must be protected at all costs.
On Ghana’s democratic experience, President Mahama noted that the country has earned recognition as a beacon of democracy since 1992 through peaceful transitions, vibrant media, and resilient civil society.
However, he admitted that challenges such as inequality, lack of opportunity for the youth, monetization of politics, and misinformation continue to threaten the survival of democracy.
He also referenced Kwame Nkrumah’s famous caution that “freedom is not something that one people can bestow on another as a gift; they claim it as their own and none can keep it from them,” noting that the same applies to democracy, which must be guarded jealously.
The President stressed the importance of education, quoting Thomas Sankara’s assertion that “a soldier without political education or ideological training is a potential criminal,” and linking it to the need for leadership with ethical grounding.
He also described a free press as “democracy’s immune system” and called for civic space to be protected.
Reaffirming Ghana’s role as host of the Democracy Dialogue, President Mahama pledged that the country would defend the independence of its institutions, support free expression, and promote democratic governance across West Africa.
“Democracy dies when citizens lose faith, when leaders abandon integrity and institutions succumb to capture. But democracy can be renewed when citizens rise to defend it,” he said.
Closing his address, he urged participants to leave the dialogue not with despair, but with renewed determination: “Let this dialogue in Accra be remembered not as a lament for dying democracies, but as a rebirth of hope… If the roots of our democracy are deep, there is no need to fear unconstitutional governance.”
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
