Professor Kofi Abotsi, Dean of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) Law School, has criticized identity-based voting as a major factor contributing to political underperformance. According to Abotsi, when political parties rely heavily on ethnic support and unwavering voter loyalty, they lack motivation to deliver effective governance.
In a post on X, he remarked, “Voters cannot support poor performance while complaining about it.”
Abotsi also called for a reevaluation of Ghana’s winner-takes-all system, which he argues exacerbates the cost of electoral defeats and threatens national unity. This system, where only the winning candidates gain official roles, disregards the votes and voices of those who supported the losing candidates.
He elaborated on X, “The cycle and psyche of ‘winner takes all’ increases the cost of electoral loss! It is the reason elections present deathly choices for candidates and their supporters. That threatens us all and calls for a serious rethink of governance, nation-building, and elections.”
Abotsi further critiqued the substantial powers vested in the presidency by the 1992 constitution, suggesting that the framers envisioned a ‘philosopher king’—wise, knowledgeable, and altruistic. He noted, “For the fractious, acrimonious, and self-seeking people we have become, this has proven to be a tragic miscalculation.”
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