Grapevine

KOD blames Ghanaian media for perpetuating Ghana’s political duopoly

Mr Kwame Owusu Danso (KOD), the Vice-Presidential candidate of the Movement for Change, in an exclusive with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), after his Caravan Campaign Tour in the Central Region, expressed deep concerns over the state of Ghana's political system, laying a portion of the blame squarely at the feet of the media.

According to him, the duopolistic political system dominated by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has impoverished the nation, and the media, which should act as the gatekeepers of democracy, has become complicit in perpetuating this imbalance.

"For the past 32 years, Ghana’s political space has been hijacked by two parties," KOD lamented. "Whatever has happened to this country - whether good or bad - is the cumulative effect of what these two parties have done. We are so blessed with human and natural resources, yet we are still poor. At the last count, this was the 17th time we’ve had to go begging at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to survive. We cannot be the number one producer of gold in Africa and still be poor. This paradox is inexcusable."

KOD, who is also a proud member of the media fraternity, was visibly emotional as he blamed the country’s plight not on a lack of resources, but on a broken system. "It is sad," he stated. "We have all the quality human and natural resources we need, and yet we are still struggling. Our problem isn't what we have; it's the system some of us have intentionally created. Any system that doesn’t make use of its finest talents and minds cannot be called a sustainable system. For the last 32 years, we have been practising a system that only benefits a few while impoverishing the majority."

KOD singled out the media as one of the key drivers of this system, accusing the press of perpetuating an "eight-year cycle of state capture" between the NPP and the NDC. "The media has unintentionally - or maybe even intentionally - set the stage for this political duopoly to continue, possibly in perpetuity. Just listen to the discussions on our radio and television stations and you’ll understand what I’m talking about. They’ve shut the door on the idea of an independent president or any alternative third force, even though our constitution clearly makes room for it."