Kakistocracy in Disguise: How the NPP’s Presidential Primaries Expose Ghana’s Political Decay

The New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) upcoming presidential primaries have reignited public outrage, not because of the quality of candidates, but because of the staggering cost of entry into the race. According to the party’s official announcement, each aspirant must cough up a mind-boggling GHC 4.6 million — the equivalent of ₵46 billion in Ghana’s old currency, merely to contest in an internal election.

The breakdown of this amount is shocking: GHC 100,000 for picking nomination forms, GHC 500,000 for filing, and an additional GHC 4 million dubbed a “development levy.” This astronomical figure has left many Ghanaians questioning the very foundation of our democracy. What kind of democracy demands millions before one can serve the people?

Ghana’s politics has clearly mutated from a manifesto-based democracy into what can only be described as a kakistocracy — a system where the worst, least qualified, and most unscrupulous individuals dominate leadership, sustained not by merit but by money and manipulation. Gone are the days when political contests were about vision, policy, and principle. Today, elections are auctions; victory belongs to the highest bidder, not the most competent leader.

This "moneyocracy", as it has become, feeds corruption and deepens public cynicism. Many voters have resigned themselves to accepting bribes and handouts during campaigns, reasoning that “after all, it’s our money.” Successive governments have weaponised the anti-corruption fight as a campaign slogan, with little genuine intent to clean the system.

The so-called (ORAL) established to recover stolen public funds stands as a classic emblem of the failure on the part of governments to walk the talk in the fight against corruption: long on rhetoric, short on results. No serious government with enough glaring evidence of corruption will take months to start throwing corrupt officials into jail. Since the dawn of the Fourth Republic, not a single major political figure accused of corruption has faced full justice; even those convicted often walk free through presidential pardons. This points to the fact that both the NDC and NPP are treating each other with golden gloves when it comes to fighting corruption in this country.

If a presidential hopeful must pay over GHC 4.6 million just to enter a party race, what moral ground will they have to fight corruption in office? Naturally, such leaders will seek to recoup their “investment” through inflated contracts, nepotism, and kickbacks. This vicious cycle of patronage and incompetence is the lifeblood of kakistocracy — a government of the worst, by the worst, and for the worst.

The NPP may argue that its internal election processes are private matters, but this defence collapses under scrutiny. The calibre of leaders a party produces determines the quality of governance the nation receives. The recent saga involving the former Finance Minister, who clung to office despite overwhelming calls — even from his own party — for his dismissal, is a textbook example of the arrogance and moral decay that define our kakistocratic politics.

The same pattern runs deep into the galamsey (illegal mining) crisis ravaging our environment. Both the NPP and NDC have influential members with vested interests in illegal mining operations, using the proceeds to fund campaigns. Reports are buried, investigations stalled, and recommendations ignored — because the rot runs from top to bottom.

Until Ghanaians rise above partisan loyalty and reject this culture of moneyocracy and kakistocracy, our democracy will remain hollow — a marketplace where power is sold to the highest bidder, and our collective future mortgaged to political financiers who have no clue on how to govern, even a district, not to talk of an entire country.

Ghanaians are watching!

FAB's Gist.