Ghana should INVESTIGATE the electoral-college type of election for the presidency where the election of the president will not necessarily be based on the popular vote but a mix of the populate vote and the candidate winning 50% plus “something” of the 10 regions. This will certainly eliminate the case where one or two regions could have the numerical strength to elect the president against the will of the 8 other regions. The constitution needs be changed immediately to ensure that our future presidents will represent the will of the whole nation and not a couple of tribes. This will also force future presidential candidates to campaign hard across the country instead of strategically limiting their resources and appeal to the more populated regions at the expense of the regions that are sparsely populated.

At all cost, we should avoid the tyranny of the few.

The people of Ghana can be proud that they have carried out this election in a (relatively) fair, transparent, and peaceful manner. But we should also remember that the people of Angola did the same in their parliamentary elections last October. I believe that there have been other national elections in Africa that have gone rather well over the past couple of years, Kenya and Zimbabwe being the exception along with the coups in Mauritania and Guinea and that little country off the east coast of Africa (Comoros).

Democracies in the West need to re-focus foreign policies and development efforts on countries like Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Botswana, Zambia, Angola and other emerging democracies in Africa so that their people see tangible benefits from their support of democracy in elections and civil society.

Democratic leaders of African countries must also see benefits from conducting free and fair elections combined with good governance so that their clout and respect on the continent and around the globe inspires future political leaders in Africa to follow in their footsteps.