‘Ballots cannot stop bullets’ so let’s build democratic institutions – Antwi Danso

Dr. Vladimir Antwi Danso has tasked Ghanaians to continuously work towards consolidating democratic gains in the country.

He avers that democracy should be seen as a process and not an event, with that state of mind and outlook institutions must be built to support and strengthen democracy.

“Democracy is a process where gradually you build your institutions, gradually you

Read full articlemake changes suiting your socio-historical and cultural specificities. You can’t bring American democracy to Ghana.

“The socio-historical trajectories we have taken is that we are changing our democracy gradually. For example, today we have an EC that has IPAC, where in the world will that be done? But we have adopted it. We are doing our own changed according to our history,” he said during a programme organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs in Accra.

He cautioned that thinking of democracy as periodic voting and changing of governments was myopic adding that ballots do not necessarily stop bullets.

“Democracy doesn’t stay at one point … people believe that when you have the ballot box, you elect your leaders, you change them frequently, viola; you have a democracy. Sorry.

“You have all that but the coups happen. So indeed the ballot does not stop the bullet, never think that the ballot can stop the bullet. You can have your ballot, if it is not free and fair and you accept it, the bullet can come,” he added.

The most recent coup in Africa happened in early September when elite force overthrew the government of President Alpha Conde, barely a year after he was reelected in a controversial third term vote.