No partisanship with national issues - Dr Alidu tells politicians

A Senior Lecturer at the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, Dr Seidu Alidu, has asked politicians to put away their partisan positions when dealing with national issues.

That, he said, would promote good governance and development.

He said consensus building on key issues should never be compromised if the country needed to move forward.

Lecture

Dr Alidu made the call as the lead speaker at a lecture and panel discussion on the topic: "Good Governance and Development in Ghana: Interrogating the relationship," organised by Solidaire Governance Forum in Accra last Thursday.

Scholars and governance experts took part in the programme which was to help the country identify workable solutions in enriching the quality of governance.

The panellists included a retired lecturer of the University of Ghana, Prof. Nii Noi Dowuona; Programmes Coordinator at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Mr Michael Abbey; the Executive Director of ASEPA Ghana, Mr Mensah Thompson and a social advocate at African Education Watch, Mr Geoffrey K. Ocansey.

Consensus

He noted that consensus building was a key ingredient in building good governance which would bring development, hence the need for political leaders to commit to the principle of consensus building.

"We need to jaw-jaw. We need to compromise. That is the meaning of democracy," he stated.

"When we have a democracy and we cannot build consensus on very important crucial issues on governance or a life line to governance such as an approval of budget, then we have moved away from the tenets of good governance", he said.

Dr Alidu, therefore, called on politicians to consider the collective interest of the country and put away their partisan interest for the citizenry to benefit from the fruits of good governance as a democratic nation.

Some other salient features of good governance, Dr Alidu said, were accountability, transparency,responsiveness, equity and inclusiveness, efficiency and effectiveness, rule of law and participation.

"Participation is also key. People should be allowed to be involved in policy formulation and also take part in certain key issues because it is their needs that are to be addressed. It is basically a demand and supply thing. Government must supply what the people want," he added.

Expectation from forum

The Executive Director of Solidaire Ghana, Mr Benjamin Essuman, said the forum was to enable the country to create a sensitive, accountable, responsive and participatory governance system for Ghana to be transformed into a world class society where there is judicious use of natural resources.

Good Governance, he said, was considered to be synonymous with sound development.

"If this claim is accurate, then we ask: Are those of us here in Ghana enjoying good governance practices today?

Panellists

The Executive Director of ASEPA Ghana, Mr Thompson, expressed concern about the low public confidence in the judiciary since 2010.

The impartiality of the judiciary, he said, was key to sustaining Ghana’s democracy.

He, therefore, called on the judiciary to uphold its values of fairness and human rights to build the confidence of the people in it.