Kadjebi District gets APRM Oversight Committee

Accra, Sept. 21, GNA - The National African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) District Oversight Committee for the Kadjebi District in the Akan Constituency of the Volta Region will be inaugurated on Friday. The Committee is one of 138 constituted nation-wide to monitor the implementation of the National Programme of Action (NPoA) at the district level, a statement issued by the National APRM office said.

The NPoAs are recommendations in Ghana's APRM country review exercise, which the government has accepted for implementing. It said besides monitoring the implementation of the NPoA, the committee would be responsible for information, education and communication of APRM processes as well as information flow from the national to the district level and vice versa.

The committee will also serve as the "eyes and ears" of the National Council in the district.

For the past two years, the National African Peer Review Mechanism Governing Council (NAPRM -GC) has trained and built the capacities of prospective members to ensure that they perform their roles efficiently and effectively.

Membership of the committee is open to civil society groups such as women's groups, youth groups, person's with disability and disadvantaged groups; community based organizations, faith-based organization, non-governmental organizations, minority groups public servants and traditional authorities.

The statement said political parties and party activists were not eligible for membership of the APRM District Oversight Committees. "The exclusion of political activists is to ensure and preserve the openness, objectivity, neutrality and national characteristics of the NAPRM-GC and its activities in the country," it said. The APRM is the mutually agreed instrument for self-monitoring by participating African Union member countries to ensure that the policies and practices of African states conform to the agreed political, economic and corporate governance values, codes and standards contained in their Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance. The primary purpose of the APRM is to foster the adoption of policies, standards and practices that lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated sub-regional and continental economic integration through sharing of experiences and reinforcement of successful and best practice, "including identifying deficiencies and correcting them for the benefit of the citizens of the participating country." So far, three successive progress reports on the implementation of the NPoA, in Ghana have been produced and presented to the participating Heads of State and Government through the APRM Secretariat in South Africa. The reports have also been made available to stakeholders and the public at large.