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African Peer Review Mechanism is non-partisan – Adjepong
Cape Coast, March 10, Ghanadot/GNA - Chairman of the
Governing Council of the National African Peer Review
Mechanism (NAPRM-GC), Reverend Professor Samuel Adjepong, on
Monday reiterated that the APRM which is a process to
facilitate good governance, is non-partisan, and also not
for any particular government, but for the development of
all Africans.
He explained that the mechanism was adopted, because despite
abundant natural and human resources on the continent, it
still lagged behind in development, adding that research
also indicates that bad governance, among others, was a
contributory factor.
Rev. Prof. Adjepong, who is also Principal of the Methodist
University College, said this at the inauguration of a
nine-member APRM oversight committee for the Cape Coast
Metropolis at Cape Coast.
The committee, which is to collate information on democracy,
good governance, economic governance and management, as well
as socio-economic development and forward it to the NAPRM-GC
to be included in a national report, is chaired by Mr Hope
Howusu, an educationist.
Rev Prof Adjepong said the APRM was an African
self-monitoring system to help check its systems, and that
28 of 52 African nations had endorsed it to enable them
internally audit their political, economic, corporate and
socio-economic governance systems by ordinary citizens.
He underscored its importance to the development of a
nation, stressing that its success, largely depended on the
work of the committees at the grassroots and urged Ghanaians
to be proactive and ensure that the government and other
private institutions became more accountable to the people.
Dr Francis Appiah, Executive Secretary of NAPRM-GC, named
some of the achievements of the Mechanism in Ghana as the
establishment of various trade desks to assist businesses,
the national housing projects and the fall in the HIV/AIDS
prevalent rate from 2.9 to 2.2 percent.
He noted that challenges, like the non-existence of a
council to cater for the disabled, as well as the difficulty
they face in accessing their two percent share of the
assemblies’ Common Fund, and the absence of a financial
administration tribunal to prosecute officers who embezzle
or misappropriate funds, still needed to be tackled.
Mr Sam Cudjoe, Principal Programmes Officer of the GC,
mentioned low incomes and occupational risks faced by
workers in the informal sector, non- reduction in corporate
taxes and the inability of Ghanaians to take advantage of
the whistle blowers’ act, as other issues the NAPRM-GC was
grappling with.
Ms Mercy Arhin, Metropolitan Chief Executive, urged
committee members to work assiduously and identify problems
in the area for the onward submission to the national body
for redress.
The Cape Coast committee brings to 11, the number of such
groups to be inaugurated in the country.
GNA
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