What is democracy?
Before the country recorded its first case of Covid-19, I am sure you might have seen posters of candidates who aspired to become assembly members for your areas and also those who were seeking to represent your constituencies in Parliament as Members of Parliament (MPs).
I am sure you might have also heard about the controversies surrounding the compilation of a new voters register by the Electoral Commission (EC) to be used for the December 7 general elections.
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All these signs should tell you that we are in an election year.
From now till January 7, 2021, the Junior Graphic will publish articles on all you need to know about elections, so don’t forget to get your copies of the paper every week.
Our discussion for this week is on Democracy. We practise democracy in our everyday lives and interactions.
Have you ever wondered why we hold elections to select people to be our leaders and why your parents sometimes ask about your opinion on certain issues before taking a decision?
All this is done so that leaders and certain decisions are not imposed on you by force.
Democracy is a system of government where the people of a country take part in the decisions that affect the way their communities are organised.
There are so many ways of ruling a country. For instance, some countries are ruled by kings and queens in a system called monarchy; others are ruled by the military, known as a military rule, etc.
If a country practises democracy, then the interests of the people must be heard, considered and passed into laws for everybody to follow.
In a democratic country, such as Ghana, there must be freedom of speech and expression, where everybody, young or old, has the right to say whatever he or she wants to say without fear.
Also, there must be respect for human rights and that country must organise elections from time to time to elect leaders, and those who vote must be 18 years or above.
The police and the courts are also there to ensure that people’s rights are not infringed upon.
When someone is suspected of committing a crime, such as murder or stealing, he or she is arrested and taken to court to stand trial because, in a democracy, suspects should be given the right to defend themselves through lawyers.
Whether they are guilty or not should be determined by a court of law.
The absence of this would bring about chaos and people’s rights being trampled upon.
We have already established that in a democracy, the people take part in decisions concerning their communities, and what better way to do that than through elections.
But before the elections, there must be different political parties to choose from.
In a democratic system of governance, there is the rule of law, which means that everybody acts according to what the law says.
This also means that people cannot do whatever they like. In Ghana, some of our laws and rights can be found in the 1992 Constitution..
Democracy is a good thing. Countries which practise it ensure that the rights and interests of all the people in the country, regardless of their tribal, religious, political, educational, etc. background, are adequately safeguarded.