Ms Josephine Nkrumah, NCCE boss
Yesterday, at the Alisa Hotel in Accra, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) led a discussion of civil society stakeholders on the need for more transparency in governance – from the Executive through the Legislature to the Judiciary.
The forum echoed the lack of commitment by key state organisations to live out policy such that their services benefit the general public, without discrimination.
That lack of transparency and non-commitment on the part of our public services to support good governance, for instance, is evidenced in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) ritually witnessing the nagging saga of misappropriation of public funds – with perpetrators and accomplices being invited to explain the loot or being asked to refund monies.
We believe that observation was a good tonic to initiate the conversation at a time when corruption remains topical, even though deep down we admit that the Executive is really the point where the fight should bite most, for other layers to tick in terms of performance and good governance.
An outcome of a research preceding the forum brings to the fore how poor most of our public institutions are, in the opinion of the ordinary citizens, when it comes to issues to do with corruption. And these are key institutions whose contributions to good governance at national or Executive levels are key ingredients to overall national development.
Corruption
That lack of commitment has, for instance, resulted in officials who were appointed by the National Communications Authority (NCA) abusing state purse for private greed. That picture, again, was played out in other appointees of the Venture Capital, also caught in that same abuse of state power, when they should have been those protecting the national purse.
At, probably, lower levels, we have also witnessed soldiers and police officers on anti-galamsey duties filling their pockets with gold or taking bribes to allow the insanity to fester, giving illegal miners the impression that the agents of government are out to take what is theirs, to add it to the lot that they (state agents, politicians, among others) are privileged to be already having.
As the key panelists on the programme agreed, these come about as a result of putting in place and having available all the good laws that we but interestingly, as duty bearers, failing in the enforcement process.
EOCO, CHRAJ, NCCE, et al
It appeared that when we – or rather the Executive – set up EOCO and CHRAJ in the days of former President Jerry John Rawlings, what the state had in mind was the enemy and not the friend within whose greed has the potential in undoing the credibility of the government.
That was why a better option was to put in place an independent-thinking personality with the requisite training, experience and courage, like Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu, in cracking the policy whip to attain national social security and national developmental goals.
The sticky point in all the discussions, in our opinion, has to do with the role of the police, as a law enforcement agency, in dealing with crime, particularly in the light of the delicate nature of their operations, as they sometimes come face-to-face with the impunity of criminally-minded politicians, chiefs or religious leaders.
That is why we laud the NCCE/European Union (EU) initiative of investing in the conversation and continuing to ignite interrogation of our processes, in truly helping to live out the tenets of the rule of law.
As a lady panelist also noted, that is the reason why involving the people at the grassroots is necessary in enhancing our good governance systems and gains.
Source: dailystatesman.com.gh/Leader
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