President John Dramani Mahama on Wednesday, September 17, opened the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation’s Democracy Dialogue 2025, and called for the strengthening of democratic institutions in Africa.
The President reiterated that a free press was democracy’s immune system.
He said African leaders must build regional solidarity because the fall of democracy in one nation weakens democracy in all other nations.
“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,” the President stated.
This year’s Dialogue, on the theme: “Why Democracies Die”, is being hosted by the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation in collaboration with the Government of Ghana.
Touching on why Democracies Die, President Mahama said the first reason was weak institutions that fail to protect the rights of the people.
He said the second reason was corruption and elite capture that erodes the trust of the people in democratic governance, while the third was exclusion and inequality that alienate portions of the citizenry.
“The fourth is leadership deficits that squander legitimacy of governments. And the fifth is external pressures that exploit the vulnerability in democratic systems,” the President said.
He said to renew democracy, African leaders must strengthen institutions, independent courts, parliaments, and their electoral bodies.
They must also endeavour to deliver development since a democracy without development, without roads, without schools, hospitals, and jobs would always be at risk.
President Mahama said African leaders must also educate their citizens.
Quoting the late President Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso, President Mahama said: “A soldier without political education or ideological training is a potential criminal.”
President Mahama added that “The same is true of leadership without ethical grounding.”
He said they must as well protect media and civic space and also build regional solidarity because the fall of democracy in one nation weakens democracy in others.
He said as host, Ghana recommits to upholding democracy, not just in rhetoric, but in practice.
“We’ll defend the independence of our institutions, we’ll support free expression, and we’ll continue to stand with ECOWAS in promoting democratic governance across West Africa,” he stated.
The event was attended by high profile personalities including two former Nigerian Presidents: Mr Goodluck Jonathan and Mr Olusegun Obasanjo, and Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, the President of the ECOWAS Commission.
GNA
