Inter-College Lecture Series
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Browsing Inter-College Lecture Series by Author "Agyei-Mensah, S."
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Item A Critical Review of ‘Third Termism’ in African Politics from an International Law Perspective(2017-03-29) Appiagyei-Atua, K.; Agyei-Mensah, S.The return to democracy in Africa, following the fall of the Berlin Wall, saw most African countries drafting and adopting new constitutions which seek to entrench respect for democracy, human rights and the rule of law in the governance ethos of their countries. In most of these constitutions, a two-term limit was specified for a regime to remain in power. Yet, for the past few years, African citizenry are witnessing a trend where their political leaders have had their constitutions doctored to allow for third or indefinite terms, popularly referred to broadly as 'third termism.' The presentation will seek to explain this phenomenon relying on traditional African political system of life-long monarchical rules on which the one-party state was modeled and implemented in most African states between the time of independence and until coups d'état became a means of regime change on the continent. Another model which will be used to analyse this emerging trend is the agenda of exporting 'instant democracy and instant capitalism' by the US under the Clinton and Bush administrations. The presentation will situate the discussion in the context of international law and examine how the principles of unconstitutional change in government developed by the Organisation of African Unity/African Union (OAU/AU) together with the application of the concept of collective recognition of governments could be applied to deal with the 'third termism' phenomenonItem Harnessing Our Multilingual Heritage for National Development(2019-05-02) Ansah, G.N.; Agyei-Mensah, S.Education has been linked to both human development and national development. This is so be-cause education (e.g. schooling, lectures on the virtues of punctuality) is believed to raise earnings, improve health, and add to a person’s good habits over much of his/her life time (Becker, 1993). In other words, education is regarded as a form of capital that supports economic growth and national development. Over the years, governments in Ghana have recognised this link between education, economic growth and national development and have committed national resources to several efforts at improving education with the hope of building human capital for national development. For instance, the Education for Accelerated National Development (1961-1966), the Kwapong Reform Committee for High Quality in Education for Growth (1967-1987), Basic Education for All (1987), Education in a Competitive Market driven Global Economy (2007-2016), and Free Senior High School Policy (2017), are major government policies that underscored the connection between education and national development. While these efforts may have yielded some results, e.g., increase in school enrolment, more access to education in general, more girls in school, higher literacy levels, etc., there is also an increase in carnage on our roads, filth on our streets and gutters, and non-working social interventions, among others which set Ghana back from being considered a developed nation. Why does our education appear not to be giving us the desired returns on all the investments governments have made in education over the years? A UNESCO (2012) report has admitted that in linguistically complex communities, when development initiatives are implemented in people’s first languages or a dominant language and in a culturally appropriate way, the people are often able to create appropriate, sustainable solutions - they are empowered to make decisions that enable them become key actors in social intervention programmes that benefit their communities. In this lecture, I focus on the role language plays both in education and in national development. I examine Ghana’s current (language in-education) policy which makes English the only capital in the country’s linguistic market, and argue that the linguistic practices that emanate from such a policy neither support the pillars of human development nor create the enabling environment for the achievement of sustainable development for national growth in the country. In other words, I argue that Ghana’s current language in-education policy makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for many of the country’s human resources to achieve any appreciable level of personal development, a situation that renders the people more of a liability than an asset to the nation. I conclude by advocating a language (in-education) policy that builds upon the cultural and linguistic capital for a more effective/meaningful learning and proper human resource development which is a necessary tool for sustainable development and national progress.Item Multi-Partyism, Social Fragmentation and Nation Building(University of Ghana, 2017-02-23) Atuire, C.; Agyei-Mensah, S.Ghana, like many African nations, is a product of colonialization. Peoples from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds were lumped together into nation states by the colonial rulers. With independence, African leaders were faced with the challenge of forging national identity and unity as a fundamental part of nation building. Kwame Nkrumah had a vision that was outlined in Conscientism and other discourses. The task of nation building requires social, ethnic, religious, and cultural cohesion. In recent times, since 1992, Ghana has embraced multi-partyism as a system of government. Ghana is admired and respected as one of the few African countries that successfully run free elections where peaceful transitions are made from one party to the other. A critical look at the dynamics of partisan politics reveals that there is a risk of entrenching internal divisions along ethnic, social and religious lines. Ironically, the very multi-partisan democratic system that makes Ghana the emblem of peace in Africa, could also be mining the roots of cohesion that are essential towards nation building. I would propose that a possible solution to this challenge lies not only in good governance and institutional efficiency, but also, and primordially, in educating citizens towards a better understanding of the nature and use of the power conferred on them by democracy.