Participants
at this year’s University for Development Studies (UDS) Harmattan School
lectures held in Tamale, have advocated for Ghanaians to adopt a positive
attitude through ethical crusade or social re-engineering in order to enhance
accountable governance in the country.
They
said a holistic approach to the virtues of good governance was what could
really make accountable governance a reality in Ghana, stressing that, this
should be done from the home through the school system to the work place.
A
communiqué issued after the two-day lectures held at the Tamale Campus of the
UDS, a copy of which Savannahnews intercepted, recommended that
the Constitution of Ghana should also be amended to address the problem of
Executive dominance, in particular over Parliament, so as to improve checks and
balances.
In
Ghana, issues on corruption have recently gained frenzied in public discourse
across the media landscape. This is due to the socio-political and economic
challenges that the country faces.
The
theme for the 2014 Harmattan School lectures ‘Accountable Governance- A
Key to National Development’ is very critical in this regard. For
instance, the communiqué cited some perceived corrupt practices involving the
sale of Ghana Telecom to Vodafone; the drill ship saga by the Kuffuor
administration and the Fortiz-Merchant Bank sale issue, the Savannah
Accelerated Development Authority and the Ghana Youth Employment and
Entrepreneurial Development Agency in the current administration.
The
communiqué charged government to create the appropriate means and mechanisms
for enhanced accountable governance in both public and private institutions,
adding “State institutions mandated to fight corruption should be empowered to
be independent in the performance of their statutory functions”, it emphasised.
Furthermore,
the Right to Information Bill, it said, should be passed into law and the
Whistle Blowers’ Act also pursued vigorously.
It
charged citizens and civil society organisations to demand and secure space
within the Ministries, Departments and Agencies, and Metropolitan, Municipal
and District Assemblies system for engagement on issues of transparency and
accountability in the management of resources and service delivery.
Meanwhile,
the Harmattan School started in 2005 as a platform for postgraduate students of
the UDS to present policy papers for assessment as part of their training
requirements. However, in 2007 the University institutionalized it as one of
the fora for Think-Tanks to interrogate development issues in the country.
It
is usually organised in February (during the Harmattan season, which runs from
December to March each year). The 2014 Harmattan School thus brought together
interest groups including Academia, Civil society organizations,
Non-Governmental Organisations and Government agencies, to discuss the role of
Accountable Governance in curbing corruption to accelerate the socio-economic
development of Ghana and Northern Ghana in particular.
Since its inception, it has
consistently broadened its scope by exploring the diversified Ghanaian Economy
to propel National Development.
The effects of the discourse led to the
establishment of a programme in Peace Studies in the University. Unfortunately
the UDS is the sole sponsor of this all important programme thus this has
affected the publication of the Harmattan School papers.
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