The Chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Ms Kathleen Addy, has urged Ghanaians to stop monetisation of politics during elections as it poses a threat to the country’s democracy.
She said over the years, the NCCE has cited strong evidence of vote buying and vote selling, which prevented citizens from exercising their voting rights for fair elections.
Ms Addy made the call at the media launch of NCCE’s 30th anniversary celebration, which would be on the theme; “Thirty years of sustaining Ghana’s democracy through effective civic education”, in Accra, yesterday.
She noted: “To spend so much money during elections gives the impression that democracy is for sale, which is very dangerous for democracy. When it comes to the entrenchment, we have to be very careful. We have as a people to take the bull by the horn and address this issue that continues to plaque us,” Ms Addy said.
Ms Addy said that monetisation of politics during elections was a dicey issue that should engage the attention of all Ghanaians.
She highlighted that economic hardship and the advent of fake news, misinformation and disinformation, were also threatening the country’s democracy.
Ms Addy also noted that economic hardship has left citizens, especially the youth, with a sense of despair about the future which has led to calls for undemocratic means of registering displeasure such as coups d’ etat.”
She said “I can emphasise enough that a coup d’ etat is not the solution to our problems as a country, we cannot afford to erode the hard won gains of our democracy. Indeed, when it comes to coups, Ghana has been there, and we know for a fact that nothing good can come of it”.
Ms Addy noted that NCCE was constituted in 1992 as a constitutional body with protection against political influence, solely mandated for civic education in the country.
She said in spite of challenges NCCE faced, it has done its best to fulfill its mandate by deploying programmes and activities to promote and sustain Ghana’s democracy and educated Ghanaians on their rights and obligations.
The Director for Anti-Corruption of the of Commission on Human Rights and Administration Justice (CHRAJ), Mr Stephen Azantilow, stated that, the partnership between NCCE and CHRAJ was not only being born by the 1992 constitution, but also they worked together on several programmes to educate citizens on human rights and obligations.
The activities to commemorate the anniversary celebration are: high-level panel discussion, visits to the three arms of government, civic awards, arts competition, fun games, media engagement, civic outreaches and thanksgiving service.
BY CECILIA LAGBA YADA AND DEBORAH TEIKO MARTEY
