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APRM centre of excellence to be
established in Ghana
Accra, July 7, Ghanadot/GNA – Ghana is to
host an African Peer Review Mechanism centre of excellence
to enhance the concept of good governance in the sub-region.
Discussions on the Centre are far advanced with the World
Bank, Canada and Germany ready to offer the necessary
financial and infrastructural assistance for the building of
the centre.
Dr. Francis Appiah, Executive Secretary of the National APRM
Governing Council, who made this known on Monday, said the
centre to be launched early next year would foster regional
cooperation and serve as a link between the academia and
other stakeholders.
It will also be a centre for generating best practices that
would foster the sub-region’s political development.
At the start, the Centre will meet the needs of Benin, Mali,
Burkina Faso and Ghana.
Dr Appiah was presenting the Third Bi-Annual Progress Report
for the period January – June 2008, which touched on
democracy and political governance, economic governance and
management, corporate governance and socio-economic
development.
He said, to enhance the APRM process and ensure that it was
embraced by all as a people-driven concept, the Governing
Council inaugurated 46 District Oversight Committees,
composed of public, private and civil society actors serving
as monitoring and evaluation teams to deepen
decentralization of its activities.
The committees also disseminate information on the APRM to
ensure that those at the grassroots understood the concept
and also validate reports emanating from the various
districts.
On democracy and good governance, he said, the rule of law
continued to reign in the country but stakeholders were
still concerned over the high size of government and
frequent ministerial reshuffles, adding that, it put undue
pressure on public funds and inefficient implementation of
policies.
He said the Draft Comprehensive Decentralization Strategy
bill had not been approved by cabinet and the issue of
election of district chief executives remained a thorny one.
The report cited deterioration in police-citizen
relationship, which it said resulted in deaths of both
police officers and civilians and called for equipping of
the service with riot control gear and training.
On the economy, the report said challenges of internal and
external auditing, oversight and incomplete fiscal reporting
existed but said substantial efforts were made to improve
fiscal transparency including introduction of new
comprehensive public financial management legislation, a
strengthening system for controlling expenditure
commitments, improved annual budget statements and voluntary
participation in revenue reporting.
On corporate governance, it said the private sector was now
receiving attention from the government in terms of
participation in budget preparation among others.
However, there was increasing general concern among
stakeholders on the spate of armed violence and armed
robbery, which occasionally led to loss of life and
property.
Dr Appiah said Ghana’s progress report would be submitted in
January next year.
He said at the just ended African Union Summit in Egypt,
Togo agreed to accede to the APRM concept bringing the total
membership to 29.
Dr Appiah said Ghana agreed to put at Togo’s disposal her
experience with the peer review exercise.
GNA
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