Work Together To Build Strong Democratic Culture

An Associate Professor of Political Science at the United States (US) Haverford College, has urged Ghanaians to work together to build strong democratic culture to sustain the country�s democracy. Professor Susanna Wing made reference to the recently released Afrobarometre research report on the Ghanaian attitude to democracy and governance and said it should give cause for concern to everybody. That 60 per cent of the population are dissatisfied with the government and its activities, roughly 40 per cent not comfortable with democracy, 20 per cent unwilling to obey court decisions and 15 per cent ready to defy the police, is not good enough. She said these were a pointer to the extent of political risk the nation faced despite the admirable political and press freedom. Afrobarometre is an African-led institute that measures the African�s attitude towards democracy and governance. Prof Wing, who was speaking at a media workshop in Kumasi, asked the government not to dismiss the findings but take action to build the people�s confidence. The programme was organized by the Ashanti Regional branch of the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA), with support from the US Embassy in Accra, to assist journalists to better and accurately report on elections. Prof Wing called for increased dialogue, consensus building and continued public education to strengthen the nation�s democracy. She reminded the media to be objective, report on facts and to spread rumours and gossips. They should make sure that their reports were from credible sources to maintain the peace and security. Mr. Paul Boateng, the Ashanti Regional Director of the Electoral Commission (EC), appealed to the media to help whip up voter enthusiasm in the upcoming district level elections.