Ghana's progress towards meeting the goals of the African peer review mechanism. The "good governance concept" revisited

Abstract

The "good governance" concept has been the focal point for African organisations such as the African Union (AU) and the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD). This is because it is the key element needed for the redevelopment of the whole African continent. These organisations believe that through good governance and leadership (Rule of Law, Democracy, government Transparency and Accountability, Human Rights, Etc); African governments can transform their countries and the lives of its people for the greater good of all. In light of this, the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) was introduced to help guide member states in order to govern their respective countries in tune to what is generally accepted and defined as "good governance". Haven said that, the main questions is to find out if at all the government of Ghana is holding its end of the bargain by making efforts to meet the conditions of the APRM? If so, what policies are being put in place to see to the attainment of the APRM goals? In order to obtain answers to these questions, a qualitative research approach was used to obtained data using the following sources. They are library research, academic journals (internet), report documents from the government of Ghana and interview of personnel from the governance sector, media and civil service department. The purpose of embarking on this research paper is basically to find out Ghana's progress so far in attaining the goals of the APRM as well as identify the problem areas that have drawn the country backwards in achieving its overall goal of attaining good governance. The governance system of Ghana has been praised by international organisations because of the tremendous effort made by successive governments to promote good governance in the country. However, the findings of the Country Review Mission (CRM) from NEPAD showed that Ghana still has to work hard towards tightening the loose ends that undermines its efforts in fully reaching its goal of attaining a solid good governance structure. Furthermore, interviews from people in the democratic governance sector, members of the media as well as government officials, provides expert information on how they assess the countries governance system, the progress it has made so far as well as what needs to be done to improve on its current system. In their conclusion, lack of proper implementation was identified as the main challenge facing the country.

Description

Thesis submitted to the Department of Business Administration, Ashesi University College, in partial fulfillment of Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, April 2010

Keywords

Ghana, governance, APRM, democracy

Citation

DOI