Deepening Ghana's democracy: British envoy cautions against complacency

The British High Commissioner in Accra, Mr Jon Benjamin, has lauded Ghana’s democratic credentials but cautioned Ghanaians not to be complacent with the present level of achievement.

He said Ghanaians must continue to nurture an open society and deepen democratic practices so as to reap the dividends of democracy.

The British High Commissioner, who is only seven weeks into his job in Ghana, granted the Daily Graphic an interview on his vision and mission to enhance UK/Ghana ties. 

He declared that “my impression so far is positive, friendly and good sentiments and glad to note that  there is a massive network of relationships between the UK and Ghana”.

Democratic dividends

According to the British envoy, “It is important not to be complacent in democratic practices,” saying “functional democracy is about rule of law and building institutions; I think an important trend in Ghana is towards building institutions.”

In Mr Benjamin’s view, democracy is a political way of life where there is freedom from fear and citizens could go about their civic duties without having to worry about being punished for  discharing such duties.

In his view, election was a periodic expression of democracy, and expressed the trust that Ghana would go beyond that to really deepen an open society full of fulfilment for all.

Legacy

On his legacy after his tenure of office, Mr Benjamin declared, “I will would like to see more British companies enter Ghana to do business to enhance bilateral trade and investment”.

He said it was his key goal to attract British companies and investors into Ghana to help create jobs, transfer technology and also develop skills.

Ghana, according to the envoy, though was facing some economic challenges, had an outstanding stable economy, conducive for foreign investors.

“Ghana is a base for a lot of companies. They are looking at Ghana to establish a base in the region and my duty is to contribute to help Ghana develop and move into a higher middle income country,” he stated.

“I would therefore, like to re-launch the British Chamber of Commerce, as well as seek to deepen cultural, sports,  and foreign co-operations.” he further stated.

Concerning defence ties with Ghana, he said Britain would regularly co-operate with Ghana through ECOWAS in combating manifestation of extremism and deepen the values of democracy, as well as contribute to global peacekeeping.

Elections

He said 2015 was a key year for elections in some parts of the sub-region and pointed out that Ghana’s credentials over 20 years in democratic governance would be a useful guide.

Mr Benjamin argued that Ghana was a good example for the developing world and particularly to the rest of the region, where democracy and free press were thriving.

Immigration and visa policy

According to the British envoy, the UK had tight immigration rules and was not ready to lower standards.

“The way our immigration and visa policies and systems work  are not open to personal lobbying or political influence,” he told the Daily Graphic and gave the assurance that “once an applicant satisfies the three key conditions of status, proof of financial support and reason for travel, he or she will be issued a visa to travel”.

He dismissed as erroneous the need for visa bonds before one could travel to the UK, saying, “There are no visa bonds, but like every sovereign country, such as Ghana, we have immigration and visa policy and  we are not lowering that policy.”