Seeking accountability is a sure way towards development – NCCE’S Chair

Chairman of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Ms. Kathleen Addy has urged all Ghanaians to hold leaders of the State accountable for their stewardship, as this serves as one of the initial measures to realizing the desired development.

In an engagement with congregants of Divine Mercy Catholic Church in East Legon, Accra, the Chairman intimated that participating in the electoral process alone is not enough to spur the country to greatness, highlighting that the tenet of accountability must not be relegated to the background.

“As citizens, we have been neglectful of accountability. Most often, we are more fixated on the December 7 Polls and once it is over, we all sit back expecting the country to run on its own”, she posited.

Ms. Addy revealed that the share of the national cake of members of any community lies in the bosom of the various Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies, stating that, “the Common Fund disbursed to these MMDA’s are towards the development of the distinct districts”. She therefore admonished the congregation to rather direct concerns of development deficits in their localities to the District Assemblies.

The Chairman also called on the power seekers to walk their talk when power is eventually handed to them, encouraging electorates to look beyond party affiliations and other ways of alignment and ensure to hold leaders who fail to deliver accountable, as that is a sure intervention of putting politicians in check and getting them to live up to their mandate.

This interaction forms part of the Commission's efforts to sensitize the populace towards building responsible citizens in the wake of the 2024 General Elections.

MONEY IN POLITICS, A SOURCE OF CONCERN IN THE DECEMBER 7 POLLS – KATHLEEN ADDY

Chairman of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Ms. Kathleen Addy has bemoaned the unfortunate mushrooming trend of merchandizing votes that is seemingly characterizing Ghana’s electoral process in recent times.

She laid bare her displeasure during a sensitization activity, as part of the Commission’s series of voter education, going into the 2024 General Elections. She stated that this vice undermines the very spirit of democracy. According to her, if it is not clamped down, we may end up handing over power to the highest bidder whose source of funds we may not even be privy to.

“Note that when they eventually mount the citadel of power, the funds spent during the campaign season would have to be returned to its source with interest, and if it was ill-gotten, imagine the harm we may subject ourselves to as a people” she revealed, adding that, “this is how we embolden them to keep up with their misconducts”.

The chairman also cautioned that we shoot ourselves in the foot and pay a high price in development (within our localities and nationwide) if we allow for our votes to be bought, underscoring that one’s vote is a determinant of the destiny course of the country.

She hence called on every minded citizen to have the country at heart as that would be a guide to inform their decisions during the General Elections.