Fund NCCE to undertake mandate — CSOs

Sixty Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have called on the government to, as a matter of urgency, retool the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) with the necessary funds and logistics to enable it to play the critical role of national public education on the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

In a statement, the CSOs further appealed to the government to prioritise the role of the commission by providing it with the required resources to enable it to discharge its obligations beyond the COVID-19.

The CSOs included Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), SEND-Ghana, Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), IMANI, and the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI).

Crucial role

The CSOs said the role of the NCCE could not be underestimated in the fight against COVID -19 due to the crucial role public education played in the efforts to curb the spread of the virus.

According to the statement, without public education from institutions such as the NCCE, the public, especially those in the rural areas, would not know how to adhere to the safety protocols against COVID-19.

“Members of the public have been urged to observe a number of safety protocols. These include social distancing, frequent washing of hands, wearing of facial masks, among others, all of which are intended to contain the spread of the disease and ultimately bring it under control.

“The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has also been associated with the major problem of proliferation of fake news and misinformation. Indeed, in one of his addresses to the nation, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, flagged it as a major challenge in the ongoing effort to contain and deal with the pandemic. A key prerequisite for the success of the measures announced by government and for public adherence to appropriate protocols for containing the COVID-19 pandemic was public education,” it said.

The statement expressed worry about the inadequate funding of the NCCE, saying it was a concern when the NCCE revealed that it was only able to disburse a paltry GH¢100 to each of its district offices for public education on COVID-19.

 Neglect

In view of what it described as shocking revelation, the CSOs said they independently made checks to ascertain the financial and logistical state of the NCCE.

“Our checks revealed a worrying pattern of neglect of the commission by successive governments since 2009. The neglect and resource-deprivation of the commission has literally rendered it incapable of undertaking its important constitutional obligation of public education.

Also, it said the commission had hardly received its total budgetary allocation since 2009 while it also lacked basic tools and equipment such as public address systems, for effective advocacy and public education

 What is the NCCE?

The NCCE is a constitutional body created under chapter 19 of the 1992 Constitution .

Its function as stipulated under Article 233 of the 1992 Constitution includes to “formulate, implement and oversee programmes intended to inculcate in the citizen of Ghana awareness of their civic responsibilities and an application of their rights and obligations as free people.”