Get involved to promote democratic governance — CDD
The Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), has called on Ghanaians to be actively involved in the civic space to promote and defend democratic good governance in the country.
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Reflecting on this year’s global theme of “Space for Civil Society,” CDD-Ghana reiterated the importance of active citizen participation in the democratic space as the most effective tool in holding public office holders accountable, sustaining the democracy we cherish and promoting inclusive development.
Participation
According to a statement from the centre to mark International Day of Democracy Tuesday, participation in the democratic space must be seen as a right for every citizen, and it should be everyone’s duty to participate actively at different levels and in different ways.
It pointed out that unfortunately, deficit in meaningful citizen participation in our democratic space persisted.
Evidence
Evidence from six rounds of Afrobarometer surveys reveal lack of significant citizen participation in the democratic space apart from voting in national elections.
Citizen participation at the local level, where considerable national resources are disbursed, is even worse as manifested in successive district level elections.
There is also a deficit in lawful citizen collective action, limited interaction between citizens and their elected leaders, such as Members of Parliament and assembly members, and sustained demand for public official accountability.
Apathy
There is general citizen apathy, beyond public commentary, in taking the necessary steps to ensure that entrusted public officials are held to account for their actions.
The Centre entreated the government and official state agencies to continuously seek ways to deepen active citizens’ involvement in democratic decision-making and build meaningful partnerships with them.
Furthermore, CDD-Ghana said it believed that the role of civil society organisations was very critical in fostering this meaningful partnership.
The centre reminded the government and state agencies to view civil society actors as constructive partners in development, rather than actors who seek to expose the inefficiencies of the government.
CDD-Ghana therefore called on civil society organisations to take the lead role, where appropriate, in mobilising citizens through civic and democracy education.
“We need to be reminded that effective public participation is inextricably linked with sustained civic and democracy education as well as information,” it stated.
Understanding
By providing and sustaining civic and democracy education, the centre stated that citizens were able to understand their roles in a democracy beyond voting in general elections; participate in decisions that affect them, become aware of what they should reasonably expect from elected officials and thus foster vertical accountability.
CDD-Ghana therefore encouraged civil society actors to seize the opportunity of the democratic space to work towards enhanced public participation in the democratic process.
“We are all involved in ensuring that things are done correctly; and we must get and stay involved in matters that affect our very existence as citizens of this country,” it concluded.
Turnout in district and general elections
Data from the Electoral Commission (EC), shows significant differences in turnout at the district level and general elections.
For example in the district level election in 2010 out of a total of 13,396,654 registered voters expected to vote 4,725,114 turned out to vote representing 35.3 per cent.
However during the 2012 presidential election, the total number of registered voters was 14,031,793 out of which 11,246,982, voters turned out to cast their votes representing 80.15 per cent.