‘Ghanaians, Demand Accountability And Don’t Be Mute’ – Ghana Integrity Initiative2 min read
Ag Executive Director of Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) Mary Awelana-Addah
The Ag Executive Director of Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) Mary Awelana-Addah has admonished Ghanaians to demand accountability from leaders.
She said the role played by citizens in directly demanding accountability is of paramount importance to the democratization process.
Mary Awelana-Addah was speaking on Thursday, 22/06/2023 at the launch of the Ashanti Regional Chapter of the Citizens’ Coalition in Kumasi. The Coalition for Democratic Accountability and Inclusive Governance programme which aims to empower citizens to be able to demand accountability from leaders was attended by the media, civil society organizations (CSOs), professional bodies, citizen groups and associations.
Under the UNDP – supported project, the launch was under the theme, “Building a Culture of Accountability, Safeguarding Democracy, and Promoting Inclusive Development.”
Mary Awelana-Addah called on citizens to be on board and rekindle the spirit of accountability and not to be mute when things are bad adding that democratic accountability thrives in development.
She noted that societal accountability, which may also be called bottom-up accountability, involves explicit actions by citizens to demand accountability directly rather than using watchdog institutions as agents for holding leaders accountable.
The Ag Executive Director of GII lamented that not only about how corruption has found its way into all walks of life but how it appears people have found new ways of engaging in the act.
Mary Awelana-Addah said, “Corruption happens everywhere, corruption involves everyone. It’s not only in the political offices or public institutions that corruption happens, it happens even in our homes, churches and schools. Corruption, as we all know, do happen in the dark is no longer so, people do corruption in our eyes, in broad daylight.”
She said for the country to win the fight against the canker, Ghanaians must be bold to report cases to expose those involved for the relevant institutions to take the matter up.
The Ashanti Regional Chapter of the Citizens’ Coalition she said aims to address sector-specific and local-level issues while also advancing the national interest agenda.
