Why Ghanaians must focus on demanding accountability for the social contract with the ruling class

For this reason, Ghanaians must remain focused on the real issues affecting their daily lives and resist the growing culture of emotional politics, political distractions, personality clashes, and propaganda designed to shift public attention away from pressing national concerns. Many Ghanaians voted for change because life had become increasingly difficult. The rising cost of living, unemployment, fuel prices, utility bills, economic hardship, and the weakening cedi placed enormous pressure on ordinary citizens. Businesses struggled to survive. Young graduates searched endlessly for jobs. Parents found it difficult to feed their families and support their children’s education. Transport fares continued to rise, while prices in the markets changed almost weekly. These were not merely political talking points. They were real challenges confronting ordinary Ghanaians every day. At the time, the current administration, then in opposition, strongly criticized the previous government over these same issues. They spoke passionately about hardship, corruption, poor economic management, unemployment, public debt, dumsor, wasteful spending, and the suffering of ordinary citizens. They promised economic recovery, responsible leadership, transparency, fiscal discipline, and relief for struggling Ghanaians. Today, citizens must remain focused on whether those promises are being fulfilled. The electorate must avoid being consumed by emotional political debates and carefully crafted distractions that shift attention away from governance and present national realities. Unfortunately, public discourse increasingly appears dominated by partisan attacks, political propaganda, and endless arguments about former governments rather than serious conversations about the current state of the nation. Political drama often overshadows the everyday struggles of ordinary people. Yet emotional politics does not reduce food prices. Political insults do not create jobs. Radio propaganda does not stabilize electricity or improve water supply. What matters most to the ordinary Ghanaian is whether life is improving. That is why the rising cost of living must remain central to national discussion. Citizens must continue to ask whether the economy is genuinely recovering and whether ordinary people are truly experiencing relief. The realities in the markets, transport sector, housing, fuel prices, and household expenses often tell a clearer story than political speeches. Electricity supply must also remain a major concern. Dumsor became one of the most powerful political issues in recent years, and many citizens voted with the hope of securing stable and reliable power. Today, Ghanaians must honestly assess whether electricity supply has significantly improved and whether homes and businesses are protected from the fear of renewed instability. Water supply remains another critical issue. In many communities, residents continue to struggle with irregular access to clean water despite repeated promises of improvement. Access to reliable water is not a privilege; it is a basic necessity. Citizens must also pay close attention to government spending and the lifestyle of public officials. While in opposition, many leaders criticized the use of luxury vehicles, large convoys, and excessive government spending. The public must now ask whether these practices have truly reduced or whether the same culture of political comfort continues while ordinary people endure economic hardship. Beyond these immediate concerns lies another critical national issue — the management of Ghana’s natural resources. For decades, Africans have rightly condemned slavery and colonialism for the damage inflicted on the continent. Yet many citizens continue to question whether Ghana is fully benefiting from its own natural wealth today. Gold, oil, bauxite, timber, and other natural resources should not continue to enrich foreign interests while many Ghanaians remain trapped in poverty and underdevelopment. Increasingly, there is growing public sentiment that Ghana must pursue more nationalistic and citizen-centered approaches to managing its natural resources. This debate becomes even more significant as the mining lease of Gold Fields Ghana’s Tarkwa Mine approaches renewal next year. Many believe this presents an opportunity for Ghana to reassess how resource agreements are negotiated and whether the nation is securing adequate value from its own wealth. The long-standing argument that Ghana lacks the capacity to negotiate stronger national benefits is becoming less convincing to many citizens. Ghanaians are now asking difficult but necessary questions: Are our natural resources truly benefiting ordinary citizens? Are mining communities receiving meaningful development? Are state institutions doing enough to protect the national interest? Should foreign companies continue dominating strategic sectors while local participation remains limited? These are legitimate national conversations that deserve serious attention, not political distraction. Government must always remember that leadership is built on a social contract between the people and those entrusted with power. Citizens vote with the expectation that leaders will protect national resources, improve living conditions, manage the economy responsibly, and place the national interest above politics and personal comfort. The electorate must also examine whether ongoing infrastructure projects are being continued in the national interest or abandoned because of partisan considerations. Roads, hospitals, schools, markets, and development projects belong to Ghana — not to political parties. National development should never become a casualty of political competition. The danger confronting Ghana today is not only economic hardship. The greater danger is when citizens become so emotionally divided by partisan politics that they stop demanding accountability from those in power. Democracy weakens when people become more committed to defending political parties than defending their own welfare and living conditions. Ghana cannot progress if national conversations are dominated by propaganda, political entertainment, and emotional manipulation while the real challenges facing citizens receive less attention. The Ghanaian voter must therefore remain alert, principled, and focused. The same standards used to judge previous governments must also be applied to the current administration. Accountability must never be selective. At the end of the day, political parties seek power, but citizens must seek progress. The true responsibility of the Ghanaian electorate is not only to vote leaders into office, but to ensure that every government remains accountable to the people and faithful to the democratic social contract upon which the nation stands. Ghanaians must not lose focus. The real issues remain with us, and those issues must continue to occupy the center of national conversation.