Solidaire Governance Forum: Politics at one point shifted from nation-building to state capture – Kwaku Azar

Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare says Ghana’s political parties have abandoned nation-building in favour of capturing state power, weakening democratic institutions and public trust.

The renowned legal scholar, and Development (D&D) Fellow at the Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) made the remarks during a Solidare Ghana Public Forum lecture on “Political Parties: The Original Vision and Current Reality.”

Professor Asare argued that political parties, which once served as instruments for national liberation and development, have gradually drifted from their founding purpose.

“Somewhere along the way, the struggle to build the nation became a struggle to capture the state,” he said, warning that the shift has reshaped Ghana’s politics around control of public institutions instead of national development.

He maintained that a nation cannot be built by controlling state institutions alone but by strengthening governance systems, expanding opportunities for citizens, rewarding productive enterprise, and pursuing the public good.

“But a nation is not built by capturing the state. It is built by strengthening institutions, expanding opportunity, rewarding productive enterprise, and serving the public good,” Professor Asare stated.

According to him, political parties were originally expected to unite citizens, develop leaders, hold governments accountable, and promote peaceful competition based on ideas. Instead, he said, many parties have become preoccupied with electoral victory, patronage, and control of state resources.

“What began as movements for self-government and national development increasingly evolved into organizations preoccupied with electoral victory, patronage distribution, and control of state power,” he said.

Professor Asare identified what he described as four defining characteristics of Ghana’s contemporary political system: an entrenched two-party dominance, the growing influence of money in politics, partisan tribalism, and the capture of national institutions by political interests.

He warned that these developments have weakened accountability, undermined confidence in state institutions, and encouraged citizens to judge public decisions through partisan lenses rather than on their merits.

Calling for reforms, Professor Asare proposed measures to strengthen internal party democracy, restore the independence of public institutions, empower Parliament, promote active citizenship, and place national development above partisan interests.

He urged Ghanaians to prioritise the country’s welfare over political loyalties.

“The question is not whether the NDC will win. Or whether the NPP will win. The question is whether Ghana will win,” he said.

Professor Asare added that, “Political parties are means. Ghana is the end. When we forget that distinction, democracy becomes a contest for power. When we remember it, democracy becomes a vehicle for progress.”