Preserve Ghana’s lead in democratic transitions — Gbeho

A former President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Mr James Victor Gbeho, has charged the Centre for Democratic Transitions - Ghana (CDT-Ghana) to work to preserve the lead of Ghana in successful democratic transitions on the continent.

He said the calibre of professionals and members of the CDT gave hope that the daunting challenge of democratic transitions on the continent would have the requisite expert knowledge to see to the smooth power transfers on the continent.

Members

Mr Gbeho was delivering the inaugural statement at the inauguration of the CDT last Tuesday.

The think tank has Ghana’s longest serving Local Government and Rural Development Minister, who served from 1988 to 2000, Professor Kwamena Ahwoi, as a member. Prof. Ahwoi was also a member of two transitional teams under the Fourth Republic.

The Chief of Staff from February 2015 to January 2017, Mr Julius Debrah, and a former head of the Local Government Service (LGS), Dr Callistus Mahama, are the two other members.

The Executive Coordinator of CDT is Nana Ato Dadzie, who was also a former Chief of Staff and chaired the transitional team in 2001 that oversaw the transfer of power from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

He was also a member of the 2009 transitional team that oversaw the transfer of political power from the NPP back to the NDC.

Causes

Mr Gbeho in his statement listed tribalism, weak regulatory regimes and institutions, and sometimes the dearth of laws as responsible for the challenges of transitions since post-independent Africa.

According to him Ghana has been saved from that because of the legacy of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, who ensured that partisanship and ethnocentrism were not entertained in politics and the society.

Also, laws and a good regulatory regime had ensured Ghana’s sterling progress with transitions.

He said the transitional provisions in the 1992 Constitution ensured a smooth operation of the laws when Ghana transited from a military to a civilian government in 1993.

Citing Liberia and other countries, Mr Gbeho said a dearth of laws, the breakdown of others and the lack of transparency and democratic principles had facilitated conflicts in those countries.

Solidarity

The second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin, expressed joy that the creation of the CDT was a manifestation of the good testimonies about the country.

A Research Fellow of the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), Mr Kwesi Jonah, said political upheavals in Togo, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were justification for the establishment of the CDT.

Speaking in his own capacity, Mr Francis Tsegah of the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), tasked the CDT to campaign for timelines for opposition parties to access figures on a country’s economy prior to an election, to help them in the preparations of their manifestos, as it pertained in other jurisdictions.

For his part, Nana Ato Dadzie said the centre would provide advisory services, capacity building and fruitful engagement with regional and sub-regional organisations on democratic transitions.