President John Dramani Mahama has expressed Ghana’s readiness to open up for a thorough peer review under the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).
He described the mechanism as an important exercise that would afford Ghana the opportunity to assess progress made and interventions needed to improve governance.
The President was speaking after swearing in members of the National African Peer Review Mechanism Governing Council (NAPRM-GC).
According to him, the new Council is expected to lead the second-generation review of Ghana next week on the sidelines of the African Union Summit scheduled to take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
“We’re willing to do that and we’ll be available to lead that process,” he assured.
President Mahama noted that Ghana was among the first countries to accede to, volunteer, and undergo a comprehensive peer review process in 2006.
“It’s been an issue of pride for us that Ghana’s democracy, accountable governance, and everything that we are noted for, will be subjected to review by our peers,” the president said.
He observed that the outcome highlighted the huge gap between the deprived northern belt of Ghana and the south, which eventually led to the establishment of the then Savannah and Accelerated Development Authority (SADA).
The SADA, now the Northern Development Authority, is a platform to provide direct development assistance to stem the tide of migration from the north of the country to the south.
“So we want to know what has happened to those inequalities and what the level of opportunities we have opened up in other parts of the country are.”
The new Governing Council is chaired by Ladyship Professor Akua Kuenyehia.
In a brief remark, Professor Akua Kuenyehia expressed gratitude to the President and assured him of their commitment to uphold transparency and the independence of governance institutions.
Other members of the Council are Dr Joseph Whittal, Chairman of the National Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mr Joseph Obeng, Mr David Ofosu-Dorte, and Mrs Cornelia Amoah.
The APRM is a voluntary, mutually agreed self-monitoring instrument established in 2003 by the African Union (AU) to promote good governance, political stability, and sustainable development. It facilitates national dialogue and self-assessments of policies across four areas: democracy, economic management, corporate governance, and socio-economic development.
By Julius Yao Petetsi
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