Ghana attains sixth
best governed country in Africa
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Ghanadot
Accra, Oct 4, Ghanadot - Ghana has
once again found itself among the top ten best governed
states in Africa out of the
continent’s 53 countries.
The data for this survey was collected in 2007.
The survey was funded by the Mo
Ibrahim Foundation of the wealthy Sudanese telecom investor
by that name. He is expected to release his own version of
the report next week.
According to the annual Index of African Governance report
released recently by Harvard
University’s Kennedy School of Governance, Mauritius,
Seychelles and Cape Verde, all small islands are the
continent’s three best governed countries. At the bottom of
the list are Chad, Sudan and Somalia.
When the report was first published in 2007, Ghana stood at
the 8th position, making the current position an improvement
from the first.
For the first time the index included North African
countries and Tunisia and Algeria were in the top ten. Even
though, Tunisia’s human rights record has been described as
‘appalling’ the country is noted to rate so well in terms of
human development, economic opportunity and security, which
scores compensated for the human rights record.
South Africa, however, slipped from fifth to ninth. The
report noted that that was due to the country’s low scores
in the areas of respect for civil and political rights and
the rule of law.
Zimbabwe ranked 45 out of the 53 nations surveyed. Top oil
producers Angola and Nigeria landed at 46 and 38.
Since the data for this survey was
collected in 2007, the election
related violence of 2008 in Zimbabwe was
therefore not covered.
The 2009 Index of African Governance used 57 indicators,
including maternal mortality, gross domestic product per
capita, respect for human rights and judicial independence,
to rate governance in the continent’s 53 nations. It was
coordinated by Robert Rotberg and Rachel Gisselquist.
The authors have said in a statement, “Bettering the lives
of all of Africa’s peoples is the overriding purpose of the
index,” adding, “By noting which indicators lag and which
have advanced, governments can improve the outcomes for
their populations.”
Ghanadot
