State urged to resource Parliament sufficiently

Accra, June 12, GNA - The National Governance Programme Coordinator, Mrs Leonora Kyerematen on Monday added her voice to calls for Parliament to be provided with adequate resources for it to effectively perform its mandate of making laws and promoting the rights of the people.

She observed that although Parliament had made progress in the recent past by passing integrity enhancing legislations and conducted national outreach programmes with vibrant opposition, it was still weak. Speaking at the opening of the Rights and Voice Initiative (RAVI) Festivals and Exhibition in Accra, Mrs Kyerematen said: "Parliament is weak and requires enhanced capacity and better funding, in order to effectively carry out its mandate.

"The very structure of a Cabinet within Parliament is troublesome and has the potential to overcast its oversight role." Mrs Kyerematen also noted that the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) needed to be repositioned to bring civic knowledge and awareness of rights and responsibilities to the critical mass of the people to raise the demand side of accountability to help to internalise constitutionalism.

"The Commission as it stands now is orphaned," she said. She said the Electoral Commission was on track, and with four successive successful elections, it was consolidating its position. "As a nation we have settled on changing governments by counting rather than cutting heads. This feat has, however, been largely achieved through the vigilance and proactive role of civil society, who has helped level the playing ground."

Mrs Kyerematen urged civil society groups to continue their watchdog role of holding political parties to account, minimizing the abuse of incumbency, foster electoral fairness and credibility. She underscored the need to strengthen the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) to be operational in-between elections. "It is desirable to decentralize the mechanism in order to give it a top-down and bottom-up approach."

On the Judiciary and Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mrs Kyerematen pointed out that the State ought to come to a consensus on a process that adequately funds these key governance institutions to enable them to equitably and efficiently avail themselves to all citizens irrespective of their means and status. She noted that the worst form of abuse was human rights abuse, yet due to various constraints, justice was delayed and eventually denied to the disadvantaged and vulnerable.

Mrs Kyerematen expressed scepticism about the activities of the Ministry of Children and Women Affairs, saying it was hailed as a novelty but it must be ensured that it did not became a 93ghetto=94. "Marginalisation of women and children remains a perennial challenge.=94 She recognised the role of the media as the nation=92s "Godfather" in promoting, protecting and expanding democratic rights and liberties and exposing corruption. It also reversed the culture of silence, raised the demand for transparency and accountability.

Ms Anna Bossman, Acting Commissioner of CHRAJ, said good governance must of a matter of necessity focus on the strengthening the voice and the capacity of the people, especially empowering the poor to directly demand greater accountability and responsiveness from public officials and service providers.

She advocated the use of a rights-based approach that focussed attention on the sources of deprivation and poverty. "A rights-based approach is not just about enhancing participation or using legal strategies; it requires improving institutions, policies and processes to remove institutional or legal bottlenecks and institutionalize channels of engagement between the State and the citizens."

The Commissioner of CHRAJ urged Civil Society Organisations (CBOs) to move away from service delivery towards rights-based approach aiming at empowerment, advocacy role and other actions to help to realize the rights of the poor.

Rights and Voice Initiative RAVI is a fund targeted at enhancing citizens=92 engagement with States in relation to respect, protection and fulfilment of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights.

Its primary objective is to increase the ability of rights holders to exercise voice in the arenas of public debate and to build demand for transparency and accountability in government=92s relations to citizens. RAVI supports the activities of CBOs such as Institute for Policy Alternatives; Legal Resources Centres; Ghana Federation of the Disabled; Forest Watch Ghana; The Ark Foundation; Ghana Community Radio Network; Centre for Public Interest Law; National Network of Local Civic Unions and Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining (WACAM).