The African continent will flock to Ghana’s capital from November 20-22 for the Mo Ibrahim Annual Governance Weekend, which is an event to celebrate good governance.
Launching the event yesterday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Hanna Serwaah Tetteh, said the three-day programme would start with an award ceremony for a former head of state of Ghana.
Also to receive his award would be the winner of the Mo Ibrahim Award for Achievement in African Leadership last year, the former Namibian President, Mr Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba.
Ghanaian President to be awarded undisclosed
The minister said the purpose of the ceremony was to state an example of what good governance could do and to honour the-soon-to-be-awarded Ghanaian, whose identity is still being kept a secret.
Earlier this month, on October 5, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, declared that the governance process was stalling in Africa due to the annual results on the Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG), which measures good governance.
However, Ghana placed seventh on the overall African ranking on the index and second on the sub-category participation and human rights.
Reason for human rights performance
Briefing the Daily Graphic on what caused Ghana’s exceptional position in the human rights category, Ms Tetteh said that at the end of the day the respect for human rights was about the quality of institutions.
“Even though we have a tendency to criticise everything, we have the freedom to do so. You are not picked up for saying anything nasty about the government,” she added, pointing out how the social media and the radio stations allowed Ghanaians to have a voice to address their concerns.
She said incidents such as terrorism, the Ebola outbreak in Africa, and heads of state wanting to continue to extend their tenure of office without the constitutional mandate were dominant reasons why the governance progress was stalling and stressed the importance for African leaders to take note of what the index was showing and to make an effort to do things differently.
Apart from the award ceremony, the November event would also consist of a discussion on development issues at the Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel, a celebration concert at the Black Star Square and a football match between a star-studded Ghanaian team and the Congolese football club, TP Mazembe.
The annual governance event was originally scheduled to take place in Accra last year but due to the Ebola outbreak it was postponed to this year.
