Governance requires strong institutions — NCCE

The Chairperson of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), Ms Josephine Nkrumah, has stated that democratic governance required strong, independent and well-resourced institutions to keep the wheel of democracy running.

She said it was important for African countries to work together, learn from one another and help one another to achieve the common goal of promoting freedoms and bringing prosperity to their citizens.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement with its headquarters in Ghana, she said, was one of such initiatives which showed that the continent was willing to work together and forge ahead.

She stated this when a delegation from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), currently in the country to understudy institutions that promote democracy and how best the DRC could learn from Ghana in stabilising and promoting democratic governance, paid a courtesy call on her.

The delegation was headed by President Felix Tshisekedi of DRC’s Special Advisor in charge of Regional Cooperation and Integration, Mrs Bestine Kazadi.

Ms Nkrumah said the importance of civic education to democratic stability and sustenance could not be underestimated.

Beacon of democracy

For her part, Mrs Kazadi described Ghana as a beacon of democracy in Africa, which the DRC was ready and willing to learn from.

“Ghana has a great reputation for promoting democracy and always having peaceful transfers of power. We are, therefore, here to learn how you raise awareness, promote civic education, and how you educate Ghanaians on good electoral practices so that we can adapt same in our general election scheduled for 2023,” she said.