{"id":96685,"date":"2025-10-02T02:51:45","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T02:51:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=96685"},"modified":"2025-10-02T02:51:45","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T02:51:45","slug":"weve-become-outsiders-in-our-own-democracy-zanetor-laments-civic-irresponsibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=96685","title":{"rendered":"We\u2019ve become outsiders in our own democracy \u2013 Zanetor laments civic irresponsibility"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>3 Minute, 43 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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The Korle Klottey MP, Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, has expressed deep concern about what she describes as a growing disconnect between citizens and governance in Ghana. <\/p>\n

Speaking on JoyNews\u2019 Talk No Dey Cook Rice<\/em> podcast, she lamented that the country\u2019s democracy has increasingly turned its people into outsiders.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnow that when we talk about democracy, we don\u2019t seem to appreciate the fact that there are responsibilities that come with the rights that we have as citizens,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt also appears as though we\u2019re constantly taking less responsibility as citizens for what we should be doing. Someone else is going to clean it, someone else is going to fix it, someone else is going to service it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings argued that public property is often abused because citizens fail to see it as their own. <\/p>\n

\u201cEven when you\u2019re given something that you\u2019re supposed to look after because it belongs to the government and it\u2019s not yours, you don\u2019t use it properly. Who is the government? We\u2019ve steadily moved away from this sense of being a part of the thing to being outsiders of governance.\u201d<\/p>\n

She noted that leadership also bears responsibility for this widening gulf. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you don\u2019t have leadership that is willing to bring the people along as well and expect more of people, you create a feeling of, well, what difference does it make anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n

Her concerns extend to youth engagement in policy design. <\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of young people feel like they don\u2019t matter. They are not heard in designing policies. Nobody\u2019s asking them, what are you actually interested in? Sometimes people are designing a thing and saying, This is what we\u2019re giving to the youth. But maybe that\u2019s not what they want.\u201d<\/p>\n

On politics, Dr Agyeman-Rawlings said the obsession with votes has undermined sound governance. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems as though we\u2019re constantly chasing elections, and the populism thing is just becoming so central to what is always being done that we are not paying enough attention to what is the right thing to do, not just for today, but for tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

She stressed the need for tough choices and discipline. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople look in envy at Rwanda. You can\u2019t litter the way you do over here. There is zero tolerance for selling in the wrong space. People brag about Malaysia and Singapore, but are we prepared to do what it took to get them there? You\u2019re not allowed to chew gum in Singapore, whether you\u2019re a VIP or not. You cannot take plastic into Rwanda. There are certain tough decisions you have to take in order to have good governance.\u201d<\/p>\n

To her, good governance must go beyond elections. <\/p>\n

\u201cGood governance is not just about going for elections and having a certain level of trust. It\u2019s about delivering on time, making sure the dignity of the citizen is respected, ensuring working conditions are good enough, looking at the roads and making sure that the number of people who are dying in road traffic accidents is not more than those dying of disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

She condemned double standards in accountability. \u201cYou can\u2019t expect that the citizens should do the right thing and yet those who are given higher levels of responsibility and greater access to the nation\u2019s wealth are held to a different standard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Citing recent examples, she said: \u201cThere\u2019s a trader who damaged some part of the overpass, put away for two years in jail. Are we going to be able to do that to a public servant, a politician, who does the equivalent of damaging that where a road should have been built and it wasn\u2019t done, it\u2019s full of potholes, and they got the money? But they are walking free because maybe they supported someone\u2019s campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

She concluded with frustration over substandard public projects. <\/p>\n

\u201cI invite you to go and see the recent building that was handed over by the Coastal Development Agency in Adabraka Polyclinic. Have a look at it and tell me whether that is a building that should have been handed over. <\/p>\n

\u201cEven the painting job, I think some kid in class one would have done a better job. When we\u2019re bringing the bar so low because of politics, I don\u2019t understand that. We have to, at some point, draw the line and do what is right for the people of Ghana.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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