Resource NCCE adequately to make it deliver - Atuguba

Mr Harold Atuguba, a Solicitor of Atuguba and Associates in Accra, said inadequate funding to the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) had made it weak to perform its constitutional mandate.

He said it was not surprising that civil society organisations such as the Institute of Economic Affairs had eclipsed the powers of the NCCE and was organising presidential debates which should have been done by the NCCE.

Mr Atuguba said this during the launch of a training programme dubbed: “Enhancing Civic Engagement through an Institutionalised Stakeholders’ Capacity Building,” organised for the NCCE, civil society organisations, and the media among others in Tamale.

He said what had gone wrong with Ghana was about the preference to building the capacities of individuals to the detriment of the institutions in which they worked.

“Ghana builds the capacities of individuals rather than institutions and this practice is dangerous to Ghana’s fragile democracy which could be a hindrance to her development,” Mr Atuguba said.

He said weak institutions made the people vulnerable due to some difficulties and challenges in the Constitution.

He said even though the NCCE was established by the Constitution, under- resourcing had allowed mushrooming organisations to take its place and if care was not taken, the NCCE would become extinct.

Mr Godwin Dzah, Associates at LADA Consult, said the NCCE served as a mouth-piece of government in bringing information to the grassroots.

He said because the NCCE was doing its works properly, the citizenry were now aware of their rights and asking pertinent questions about the appointment of public officials.

Mr Dzah said resource constraints was impacting negatively on the operations of the NCCE and appealed to it to make a better case for more logistics, especially in the area of vehicles, to carry out its administrative duties.

Mr Samuel Akuamah, Deputy Chairman of the NCCE, who launched the training, said it was useful because it had been a joint ownership between the NCCE and LADA Institute to help broaden the knowledge and skills of participants for quality work delivery.