Ghanaians becoming less satisfied with Ghana’s democracy – Afrobarometer report

Ghanaians are becoming increasingly less satisfied with the outcomes of democracy in the country.

While the demand for democracy and the perceived supply of democracy in Ghana have fluctuated over the years, satisfaction with the country’s democracy has been on a downward trajectory since 2017.

The marginally increased desire for democracy was reflected in 50 percent of Ghanaians as against 48 percent of Ghanaians over the last four years, according to an Afrobarometer report.

But the satisfaction with democracy dropped to 43 percent from 55 percent in the period since 2019.

Assessments of Ghana as “a full democracy” or “a democracy with minor problems” have declined by 21 percentage points since 2017, while satisfaction with how democracy works has decreased by 29 points, according to the survey.

As an example of concerns, most Ghanaians say their assembly members and MPs “never” or “only sometimes” listen to what people have to say.

A majority of Ghanaians are also rating the president, legislators and assembly members negatively.

A record high number of Ghanaians disapprove of the President’s performance, at 70 percent.

The lack of trust in the government was also reflected in perceived corruption of the Office of the President, where it has declined by 20 percent since 2019.

Giving some insights on the findings, a fellow at CDD-Ghana, Dr. John Osae-Kwapong, noted that Ghanaians were starting to expect more than a mere tag of democracy.

“When I look at the trends, I am reassured that we will continue to hold that peace with democracy for as long as we can, but we cannot ignore the challenges for that peace we have made with democracy.”

“Leaders have to begin to find a way of saying how do we ensure that we are meeting the people at the pinch-points, so they can begin to feel a little differently about how our democracy is currently working,” Dr. Osae-Kwapong said.