Cape Coast, Oct.30, GNA- The national chairman, African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), Reverend Professor Samuel Kwasi Adjapong, on Friday said the mechanism has created awareness on democracy and good governance in the country and by that Ghana leads in its implementation and stands as a beacon on the continent.

According to him, this has enhanced grass-root participation in governance, an indication that Ghanaians have embraced the programme, stressing that due to its apolitical nature, it has successfully operated under governments of different political parties in Ghana. Rev. Prof. Adjapong who said this at a validation workshop for selected stakeholders of the APRM in Cape Coast on Friday gave a brief history of the APRM and noted that bad leadership such as dictatorship had impeded development in Africa.

"African head of states therefore agreed to ratify and adopt the Mechanism to promote democracy, good governance and socio-economic development to help address the situation", he added. Rev. Prof. Adjapong who is also the Principal of the Methodist University College, further explained that the APRM is about assessing the state of governance in various African states from the point of view of its people and have their opinions documented to deepen democracy. He said similar exercises will be carried out throughout the country and the result compiled for the President to deliver it at a forthcoming conference in 2010.

Mr. Kofi Hiob Howusu, Metropolitan Oversight Committee chairman of the APRM in Cape Coast, in a report said a survey conducted in the Metropolis ranked the police service as being the most corrupt institution with 70.5%, followed by the judicial service with 19.2 with CEPS ranking third, with 4.2%.

He said the Armed Forces and Parliament were however rated as the least corrupt institutions.

The other area that was researched were the level of freedom of expression of which 55.5% of the people said the media has improved significantly and that the ability of the citizenry to express themselves was without much hindrance.

Others are the access to justice, security of life and property, child trafficking, economic governance, access to social amenities and accountability of public officials.

Mr. Howusu said the validation workshop promotes national dialogue and that the views of all stakeholders who were selected from religious organizations, public officials, identifiable groups and ordinary citizens could help improve upon the delivery of services and further enhance governance. 31-10-09