The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat: The First and Last One Hundred Days of a New and Old Administration

Abstract

Ghana has had general elections in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020. The next one is in 2024. Each administration comes with changes that are said to be inspired by ‘patrimonialism’ and ‘neopatrimonialism’. Objective: I reviewed how the successive political administrations of the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party have conducted their transitions to determine whether those actions were guided by principles of equity or patrimonialism/neo-patrimonialism. Method: I conducted extensive literature review about the conduct of the administrations in the first and last one hundred days to ascertain the approach used and the results each of the political parties created to determine if those measures were in consonance with the Constitutional provisions on human security and political transition. Result: The first 100 days of the incoming administration is full of joy and celebrations; interspaced with the inalienation of some of the winning party’s members with unmet needs. The review showed how appointees of the previous administration are disenfranchised or re-assigned to remote workstations. The typical Ghanaian President does not introduce laudable, economic transformative agenda but he is pre-occupied with reprisals against the appointees of the previous government. Conclusion: The first one hundred days offers the ‘thrill of victory and the agony of defeat’1. New cases of post-traumatic stress disorders associated with loss of relevance and social status emerge. The outgoing Presidents overburden the system with operational cost for new programs initiated in the eleventh hour of their departures.