Pink 96.9 fm your life, your music
Related Articles
Donor partners have hinted of stopping support for electoral activities in the country.
They said Ghana had been classified as a middle income country which has matured in its democracy in Africa and would not need that kind of funds.
The donor partners are the Department for International Development (DFID), Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) and the European Union (EU).
This was disclosed by the Programme Director of STAR-Ghana, Mr Ibrahim Tanko-Amidu, at a ceremony in Accra yesterday.
The ceremony was dubbed ‘’An end of Election 2016 Call Partners’ Learning Events’’.
The event brought together stakeholders of elections such as civil society organizations (CSOs), donor representatives, state actors, STAR-Ghana’s Election 2016 Grant partners and its steering committee.
2020 elections
According to STAR-Ghana, the donor partners want to focus on other areas rather than electoral projects.
As a donor-pooled funding mechanism, STAR-Ghana sought to increase the influence of civil society and Parliament in the governance of public goods and service delivery in Ghana
Mr Amidu said through the donor partners had made significant contributions towards elections in the country, the context had begun to change.
‘’If by 2020 we do not have a mechanism like this to maintain the momentum, it would be difficult and challenging as an organization to continue to perform its roles,’’ he said.
Mr Tanko-Amidu added that in 2016 the organization, through its donor partners, awarded over US$3 million to 38 organizations, including civil society and media organizations, at the national and sub-national levels to help achieve credible, peaceful and inclusive elections, which contributed to deepening and consolidating democratic governance.
He encouraged the CSOs and partners to seek other means of funds in order to continue supporting and learning to benefit the country.
Good governance
For his part, a former Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan, underscored the need to move from good elections to good governance.
He said through the country continued to enjoy good elections, little could be said of governance, adding that ‘’a credible election is the legitimate entrance of democracy to ensure good governance and so more is expected from the government.’’
He added that there was more to democracy than elections and explained that elections constituted a core technical work by the EC while its external activities covered the entire area in which the EC operated.
Appreciation
Dr Afari Gyan urged the participants in the two-day workshop to share both their good and bad experiences, with the reasons to maintain, change and see how the 2020 elections could be better.
Source: Daily Graphic
