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Online: Ghana: Friday, May 10, 2019.
The
Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) and the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference
(GCBC) have urged the government to put all necessary measures in place to see
to the smooth implementation of the Right to Information law in 2020.
“We
further wish to state that the implementation of the law should not be stalled
by lack of budgetary allocation,” the two bodies said.
In
a communique issued at the end of its annual Joint Meeting at the Osu Ebenezer
Presby Church Hall, the two bodies also cautioned Ghanaians not to abuse the
right to information law, stressing that: “We believe that it should be used
responsibly and with the needed respect with the aim of strengthening our
democracy”.
It
was signed on behalf of the CCG by Rev. Dr Cyril G. K. Fayose, General
Secretary and Pastor Emmanuel Okai, Executive Committee member of CCG, while
Rev. Fr Lazarus Anondee, General Secretary of the GCBC, and Most Rev. Philip
Naameh, President of the GCBC.
They
commended Government, Parliament, Civil Society Organisations, the Media, the
Right to Information Coalition, and all stakeholders who worked hard to see to
the passing of the Right to Information Law on March 26, 2019 and expressed the
hope that the law would further deepen Ghana’s democratic process by creating a
platform for transparency and accountability in governance.
New
constituencies
The
two religious bodies said they could not overlook the current debate over
attempts to create new constituencies.
“Although
the Electoral Commission has denied the reports, we suggest that the current
local governance systems should be strengthened while officials are supported
to perform their duties,” it said.
On
the compilation of a new voters’ register, they suggested to the Electoral
Commission (EC) to hasten slowly.
According
to them, the National Identification Authority (NIA) was currently registering
Ghanaians for the Ghana Card and they thought that the NIA should be supported
to fast-track the process.
“That
way, the Ghana Card may be considered as an ID card for the elections,” they
advised.
“The
EC must be reminded that the NIA’s work is to resolve the problem of multiple
agencies issuing different cards for different purposes.
Local
Government
The
communique said decentralisation or effective Local Government System was the
way to bring governance and its benefits to the people and enhance the
participation of citizens in the governance process.
It,
therefore, commended the President and his government for a successful creation
of six new regions and the process to reform the local governance system to
enhance the devolution of power and resources to the regions, the districts and
the communities among which is the election of metropolitan/ municipal/district
chief executives, (MMDCEs).
“We
are, however, of the view that what is needed at the moment is extensive civic
education on a large scale to let the citizens know their rights and
obligations under the Local Governance Act, 2016, Act 936. To this effect, the
National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) should be properly resourced to
carry out this job,” it said.
“With
regard to the election of MMDCEs, we encourage Ghanaians to see it as a means
of getting governance at their doorsteps. We, therefore, ask everyone to
participate fully in the process and vote on the competence of individuals
standing for election and not on political lines,” it stated.
Kidnappings
The
religious bodies expressed concern about the current security challenges
confronting Ghanaians such as kidnapping and robbery.
“We
urge the security heads, especially the Criminal Investigation Department, to
up their game as many Ghanaians are losing confidence in the system,” the
communique said.
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