“What do we have to show after 32 years?” – Catholic Bishops call for “radical overhaul” of Ghana’s democracy

Accra, Selikem Norfegali – President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference. Most Rev. Matthew Gyamfi has critiqued Ghana’s democratic system, describing it as ineffective and in urgent need of radical reform.

“The democratic system that we have is not working as it should to help the nation,” he declared. “If it were, things should have gotten better after 32 years. What really do we have to show after 32 years that we are making progress?”

He made the remarks on Tuesday, July 15, during the second National Forum of the Spiritual Pastoral Initiative (SPI) held at Christ the King Parish Hall in Accra. The event, themed “The Political Economy of Conflict in Ghana: Addressing Youth Unemployment as a Catalyst for Security and Social Cohesion”, brought together Church leaders, academics, policy makers and civil society actors.

The Bishop Gyamfi lamented the worsening socio-economic conditions in the country, despite over three decades of democratic rule, citing youth unemployment and social inequality as glaring indicators of failure.

He revealed that prior to the 2024 general elections, the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference held closed-door meetings with the two leading presidential candidates — President John Dramani Mahama and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia — to challenge them on their commitment to national interest.

“One question we asked both candidates separately was: ‘Do you and our politicians really love Ghana?’” he disclosed. “These things we are saying here are not unknown to our political leadership. And if they are unknown, then they are not qualified to lead us.”

He further questioned the inability of successive governments to marshal the country’s resources to bring about meaningful development, warning that Ghana’s political architecture must be radically overhauled if progress is to be made.

“Apparently, things are getting worse and worse. For some of us, we have the wrong political system that is not working,” he said. “It is our hope that the constitutional review will do something about that.”

The SPI National Forum continues to serve as a platform for faith-based engagement with national development, social justice, and peacebuilding — with this year’s focus on tackling youth unemployment as a means to reduce conflict and foster national cohesion.