Young people key to Ghana’s civic education agenda - NCCE

According to her, although the NCCE places significant emphasis on young people, it has developed different strategies to reach older citizens in their communities as well.

Speaking at a media engagement on August 27, 2026, Addy said the NCCE regularly engages citizens through churches, mosques, professional groups, trade associations and other community organisations.

“In the communities, we have a lot of engagements with associations and churches, the religious institutions,” she said.

She said NCCE staff regularly visit places of worship to educate congregants on civic responsibilities and national issues.

“So, for instance, on Sundays, you find a lot of NCC staff visiting churches and giving 15-minute presentations. And on Fridays, you find us doing the same at the mosque,” she stated.

Addy said the Commission also targets groups such as market women, traders, commercial motorbike riders and young people who gather in various parts of their communities.

“You find us engaging in trade associations, market women's association, all kinds of associations, even Okada associations, even associations of people who just loiter about in the community, the boys who sit under the tree,” she said.

She explained that the NCCE has a database of some of these groups and engages them regularly as part of its civic education mandate.

“So yes, our work, even though a lot of the focus is on young people, we certainly do not leave older citizens out of it,” she added.

Addy said the Commission’s approach to older citizens differs from its youth-focused civic education clubs, as it reaches them through existing associations and professional groups.

“We have different strategies; it's just that they are not in civic education clubs. We see them in their associations; we see them at their places of worship,” she said.

She added that the NCCE also engages professionals, including hairdressers and dressmakers, through their associations.

“Those associations, we engage a lot across the country,” she said.

Addy further explained that the Commission does not only publish reports but also engages stakeholders and ordinary citizens to help them understand the findings.

She said once reports touching on matters of concern to citizens are released, the NCCE works with its partners to discuss the findings in various communities.

“Once the reports, the matters of concern to the Ghanaian citizen, once the report comes out, we hold activities to review the reports with our partners, to expose the reports to Ghanaians in different fora,” she said.

Addy said politicians could also use the reports as a source of information when developing policies, but stressed that the findings are equally communicated to ordinary citizens.

“But we do a lot of work communicating the contents of the results to the ordinary citizens as well. Of course, we could do a lot more,” she said. She said the Commission’s reports, particularly those released around elections, should be more prominent in public discussions.

“I mean, that report is so popular, it should be top of mind for citizens, particularly in an election year, but it's the usual story,” she said.

Addy, however, maintained that the NCCE understands the importance of making its research and reports accessible to citizens and will continue working to improve public engagement.

Source: ghanaweb