$600 Million pumped into election 2012

As Ghana nears the 2012 General Elections, the political discourse appears to have been enriched with the general citizenry pitching their voices on matters that concern them.

On TV, Radio and Online, the cry for responsible and accountable leadership is dominating political discussions with people from all walks of life- getting involved through interactive media, texts and phone-ins. This has come about as a result of mechanisms put in place by STAR-Ghana, which has pumped up to $600million into election related programing for this year's election.

STAR Ghana is an agency that has been in existence for two years and using media and civil society organizations to strengthen transparency,accountability and responsiveness in Ghana.

Most people in Ghana, especially after elections, look for ways and means to get politicians to be accountable and responsible during their term, but normally with little or no success.

STAR-Ghana has however, identified the media as an important stakeholder in achieving this by strengthening linkages and other collaborations between the media and other non-state actors for pro-poor policy development and implementation outcomes.

In an interview with Joy News, Ibrahim Tanko Amidu, Programs Manager for STAR Ghana said, besides the media call, STAR-Ghana has different projects this year which also aim at achieving transparent and accountable governance.

STAR-Ghana is a multi-donor pooled funding mechanism funded by the European Union, DANIDA, USAID and DfID, which aims to increase the influence of civil society and Parliament in the governance of public goods and service delivery. It provides project grants, technical capacity building, organizational development and knowledge brokering support to civil society organizations and Parliament.

STAR-Ghana's work is also focused around Basic Education, Health, Oil & Gas and Food Security and Agri-business development in northern Ghana.