Ghana makes progress in multi-party pluralism – Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama has said the government had made steady progress over the past 20 years of multi-party pluralism to enhance accountability, transparency and integrity.

He said Ghana continued to exhibit strong leadership in the area of democratic governance although “we are still faced with challenges”.

“We have just come out of a historic election, which witnessed progressive reforms including the use of biometric voters’ register and biometric verification for voting. Noting our strong democratic credentials, we are at the Supreme Court using the legitimate means of settling electoral disputes,” he said.

President Mahama said this in a speech read for him at the 4th biennial African Public Service Day celebration in Accra on Monday.

The celebration took its roots in the declaration of the First Pan African Conference of Ministers of Public Service held in Tangiers Morocco in 1994, where it was agreed that 23rd June every year would be observed as an African Public Service Day.

The week-long celebration will provides a platform for public servants to take stock of their achievements and re-strategize to create an enabling environment for governments’ policies and programmes.

President Mahama said the government also initiated action to review the Criminal Offences Act to redefine corruption to include the more expansive definition covered in United Nations Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption.

“We are conscious that corruption at any level and scale, diverts resources from intended uses, inconvenience citizens and undermines the country’s confidence and integrity and ultimately cripples public service delivery,” he said.

He said in the area of enhancing access to information, the government acknowledged that it was critical to allow the citizens to exercise their voice, to effectively monitor and hold government to account and to enter into informed dialogue about decisions which affect their lives.

He mentioned the automation of revenue agencies for improved revenue administration, tele-density coverage of over 72 per cent, migration of national security network, connection of various public service agencies through internet connectivity, supply of over 400,000 laptops to basic schools and students in tertiary institutions, as some of the initiatives to create an enabling environment and infrastructure to ensure access to information.

He said Ghana prides itself as having one of the most vibrant and liberal media landscape and to protect and preserve that, a Media Development Fund was established to improve capacity of the practitioners.

The government was also supporting the National Media Commission to enact the needed regulations that would establish an organizational framework and standards to ensure balance, fairness, access, and objectivity in the media.

President Mahama urged participants on the continent to continue to keep alive the spirit of democratic participation through giving people the opportunity to share in the partnership for growth and prosperity.