Prof. Kwesi Aning, Director of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre's Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research, agrees with President Akufo-Addo that democracy has been a benefit to Ghana.
"The insecurities around education, health, and food security in the 1970s [which] led to the extreme violence of the 1980s – the insecurities around education, health, and food security, to where we are now, the superficial conclusion is that at least, the freedom from fear has almost been established, and the freedom from want has been largely dealt with," he said.
His remark was made during a debate on Newsfile on Saturday on the health of the country's democracy in the aftermath of the 30th anniversary of the referendum that ratified the 1992 Constitution.
Nonetheless, Prof. Aning said that there are still significant difficulties that threaten democracy.
"One is the issue of employment and the plethora of interventions that have been made to target employment in general, but specifically the youth in particular, the outcome of which is still up in the air as to whether they have been successful or not.
"Another is the simple acceptance of violence as a valid instrument in carrying out our democratic tasks, as we've seen in the use of direct physical and psychological violence in intraparty elections."
This statement was made in reference to the New Patriotic Party's Constituency elections, which were marred by violence in areas such as Okaikwei South, Dome-Kwabenya, all in the Greater Accra Region, the Ashanti Region's Kwadaso and Subin Constituencies, and the Northern part of the country's Yendi Constituency.
"The nexus between flowery campaign promises when politicians seek power and actual capacity to deliver," he continued, "as well as the behaviour and conduct of the political class and the actions and inactions of the political elite, are all factors that contribute to creating an enabling environment that can threaten democracy," and must be addressed immediately.