I just stumbled across the best news in politics for Ghana for the whole year – the leading party NDC is scrapping their electoral college for parliamentary primaries allowing all their membership to vote directly.

This just might have wonderful implications:

• Primaries are gates for political aspirants and direct voting makes more sense – if many folks like you, you win.
• Electoral colleges have earlier meant those who can pay off the relatively small number of people in the college wins, not the more popular.
• When good leaders who are not rich (or make corrupt promises to the electoral colleges) cannot win, it creates political apathy – now there is a chance for the leaders Ghana needs! 
• Hopefully this will also lead to that main contending party NPP and other parties also review their primaries systems, making these effects even more profound.

On Facebook under a link to this news, selected comments were “who cares” and “NPP and NDC are all corrupt”, but also “this is the way” and “I am strongly behind you”. I say it is the best political news this whole year.

What are your views?