Kofi Bentil schools Elizabeth Ohene on how CSOs work in Ghana

Vice President of think tank, IMANI Africa, Kofi Bentil, has responded to a critical article by veteran journalist, Elizabeth Ohene, which sought to suggest that Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) were “all knowing”.

In the rejoinder to the critical article, Mr Bentil, who is also a legal practitioner, focused on the key issues raised by Ms Ohene, and addressed them.

In Ms Ohene’s shocking attack on CSOs, she suggested that CSOs were disdainful of politicians and think all governments are corrupt.

Her critical article was published on September 2, 2020, in the state-owned Daily Graphic, at a time when CSOs are leading a strong campaign to get the government to suspend a controversial mineral royalties agreement they say fails the test of transparency.

At least 15 Civil CSOs have urged the government to suspend the Agyapa Minerals Royalties agreement until all necessary documents have been disclosed.

The group under the banner name ‘Alliance of CSOs working on Extractives, Anti-Corruption and Good Governance’ are calling for a multi-stakeholder conference for a second look at the deal.

In Mr Bentil's response to Ms Ohene's artilce, he stated that CSOs were fair critics who put in the required effort before criticising.

“We spend hours conducting research and mounting advocacy to try and influence policy and shift national discourse. And we accept criticism,” he said.

Ms Ohene, who is a known member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) stated that CSOs present themselves as the “repository of all wisdom.”

In the rejoinder Mr Bentil asks, “who, or where has this claim been made?”

He added: “This accusation of ‘all-knowing hubris’ is like many others in the article, without any clear target. Less than 0.1% of CSOs in Ghana comment on government policy or seek to impact decision making at any level beyond their immediate community.”

Kofi Bentil explained further that there are also CSOs that do comment on policy but only as dispassionate analysts, citing ISSER, ACET or CEPA as examples.

“Others like CDD, IFS, ACEP, IEA, IMANI, and IDEG combine policy analysis with advocacy. Overall, CSOs come in many hues, along a wide spectrum. No broad brush does justice when describing what they do.

“Some CSOs seek to promote ‘change from within’ and conduct their advocacy by building long-term relationships with political actors and the bureaucracy. Others like TWN, ISODEC, IMANI, ASEPA, ILAPI, GUTA and WACAM are activist in their advocacy. They seek to enlist public sympathy against policies they find wrong. They also believe in ‘inoculation theory’, which is a fancy term for ‘immunising’ the population against government propaganda,” he stated.

He said it is this last function that is most dangerous, revealing that “less than 0.001% of Ghanaian CSOs use this tactic.”