Substenance of APRM will help institutionalise good governance - Kufuor

Accra, March 18, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Friday said sustenance of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) would help institutionalise good governance in Africa.

He said the APRM had given African leaders a mechanism that had been institutionalised to help them correct themselves in governance. President Kufuor made the observation when he received the report of the seven-member National African Peer Review Mechanism Governing Council at the Castle, Osu.

He commended the Council for being able to complete their work within a year. "I am proud that within a year you have been able to interact with stakeholders and be able to make suggestions and present a report.

"You have justified the Government's confidence and ability in your selection to the Council."

President Kufuor pledged the Government's commitment to take into account suggestions and recommendations made in the Report and accept the proposals made for effective and efficient governance in Ghana. "The Government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) will prove to be the first on the African continent to offer such a valuable service." President Kufuor said the Government would welcome the visit of the Continental APRM to Ghana, keep an open ear to their suggestions and recommendations "and make an input into their recommendations as a Government for the benefit of other African Governments".

Professor S. K. Adjapong, Principal of the Methodist University and Chairman of the Council, who presented the Report, thanked the Government for an opportunity to serve the country.

"If the Ghana experience as recounted in the report can continue to give impetus and enhance the quality of governance and improve the welfare of all citizens then clearly the implementation of the APRM in Ghana would not have been an exercise in futility but rather worthy of emulation."

Prof. Adjapong said there was no Government interference in the preparation of the report.

"To us this demonstrates the commitment of President Kufuor to the APRM process as an intervention that can promote good governance and progress on the African continent," he said.

Prof. Adjapong said the Council would soon come out with a sensitisation programme for ministers.

Other members of the Council are Mrs Gloria Ofori-Boadu, Founder and President of Women Assistance and Business Association, Mr Nutifafa Kofi Kuenyehia, a private legal practitioner and Professor S.K.B. Asante, an International Consultant.

The rest are Professor Miranda Greenstreet, formerly of the Institute of Adult Education, University of Ghana (UG), Legon, the Most Reverend Paul Bemile, Catholic Bishop of Wa and Mr Alex Abankwa, a Career Diplomat.