The African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) has officially launched the Compact for Ghana’s Political and Economic Transformation (Ghana Compact).
The Compact for Ghana’s Political and Economic Transformation is a consensus-building initiative that seeks to set well-articulated and collectively agreed goals and targets for Ghana’s governance, political processes, economic management, and policies of inclusion for the second quarter of the 21st century.
As Ghana approaches its next election cycle in 2024, the Compact offers an opportunity to move from politically focused to issues–driven campaigns and gives citizens more power to hold their current and future leaders accountable to the vision they have set forth.
The brainchild of Ghana Compact Dr. KY Amoako, President, and founder of ACET, speaking at the launching ceremony in Accra, said to create a better Ghana there is a need for political and constitutional reforms that will help end extreme political division and polarization.
“To create the Ghana we want, we need policies that lead to improvements in our fiscal health to unlock greater and more responsible investment in our country’s development.
We need a committed vision of economic transformation and a strong system that will ensure leaders stick to the plans that will get us there. This what the Compact aims to archive,” he explained.
According to him, Compact will put in place citizen-driven systems to monitor and measure progress towards the country’s goals over the long term, across future elections and political administrations for the next quarter–century.
“Two years ago this month, Ghana held its last national election. We know what happened. We saw deep political and social division. We saw the country in crisis.
It is obvious recent elections have produced a deepening sense of worry about the foundations of our democracy –and in turn the future of our country. The growing polarization of politics is drawing us further and apart when we need to be working closer and closer together,” he stated.
In this regard, the Compact will address four critical challenges that are impeding Ghana’s progress toward economic transformation by finding consensus for and commitment to the following interventions:
• Political and constitutional reforms that help end extreme political division and polarization.
• Policies that will lead to improvements in Ghana’s fiscal health to unlock greater and more responsible investment in Ghana’s development.
• Long-term targets that will lead to the achievement of gender equality and major improvements in the health, education, and skills of Ghana’s people, while better preparing the country for the impacts of climate change.
And a long-term vision for economic transformation and a strong system that will ensure leaders stick to the plans that will get us there.
On his part, the Member of the Northern Regional Youth Network Radia Chentiwuni Issahaku said that to build a better Ghana, the youth must be seen as key players in economic transformation and development.
According to him, the era of ignoring young people in program design, implementation, and monitoring must come to an end.
Adding that, it is imperative that young people’s voices are heard and given the opportunity to contribute to and share fresh ideas to address the challenges confronting the nation.
“The United Nations has recognised that young people are major resources for development and key agents for social change, economic growth, and technological innovations.
There is the need to make deliberate and conscious efforts towards strengthening youth participation and engagement to attain the Ghana we want,” he underscored.
Stressing that, Ghana will continue to be an enviable nation within African countries if the leaders prioritize the inclusion of youth in all issues of economic and national development.
Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas, former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, said the country remained a leader in African stability and governance, despite its economic crisis, which had sent it back to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the 17th time in three decades.
Dr. Chambas expressed the hope that the Ghana Compact would serve as a model for nations throughout Africa in order to address the socioeconomic problems, persistent poverty, and lack of democratic governance that had existed for more than 60 years.
The Ghana Compact, which is an initiative of the Founder and President of the African Centre for Economic Transformation, Dr. K.Y. Amoako, has 11 partners, including the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the Institute for Democratic Governance the IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, the Afrobarometer and NETRIGHT.
The rest are the Integrated Social Development Centre, the West Africa Civil Society Institute, the Youth Bridge Foundation, the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations, and the Right to Play.
Source: Isaac Kofi Dzokpo/newsghana.com.gh
