Tema West, April 21, GNA – The Tema West Municipal Directorate of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has taken civic education a notch higher in the Municipality through an intensified civic engagement to enhance and sustain the country’s democracy.
The Commission, as part of efforts to promote democracy through civic education, has on a sustained basis reached out to the communities across the Tema West Municipality to live up to the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
Mr Fidel Nii-Akuffo Bortey, NCCE Tema West Municipal Director, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview at Tema that in spite of the outbreak of COVID-19, the Commission made some tremendous strides and had directly provided opportunities for civic engagement across all levels.
The NCCE and the Ghana News Agency Tema Regional office have entered into working partnership to promote civic education, inject dynamism into public advocacy for the observance of the COVID-19 preventive protocols, as well as encourage people to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
Whiles giving an overlook of its programmes and activities for 2021, Mr Bortey pointed out that his outfit had already stepped up its sensitization on COVID-19 with an intensified education on vaccination to dispel the doubts and uncertainties that characterized the first phase of the exercise.
He said to deepen the understanding of the youth in democracy, civic education club activities would be upscale to better engage pupils and students on their rights, duties and responsibilities to promote nation building.
He disclosed that, as part of this year’s Annual Citizenship Week in May, some 10,000 schools nationwide would be targeted to provide a platform for interested persons to engage citizens on critical national issues.
He added that the Tema West Municipality envisioned to hold a Constitution Quiz Competition in schools.
In 2020, the Municipality as part of programmes in the lead up to the general elections sensitized communities on the electoral processes including the voter’s registration and exhibition exercises, Inter-Party Engagements and education of the Public Order Act – which requires persons desirous of holding public events to notify the police within a specified time.
“As part of the programmes within the first quarter of 2020, the NCCE undertook some radio sensitization programmes and embarked on street civic education throughout the Municipality using vans,” he said.
He noted that the NCCE before the 2020 general election strengthened its education on the Vigilantism and Related Offences Act, which disbanded vigilante groups; including political party vigilante groups and land guards.
This unrelenting education, he emphasized, had largely contributed to the decline in acts of violence and intimidation perpetrated by such identifiable groups before, during and after the elections as had been previously experienced.
He indicated that, in promoting transparency and accountability among public office holders and encourage citizens’ participation in governance, the Municipal Directorate had, through its Social Auditing initiative, made some significant progress in ensuring that the Municipal Assembly dealt with pressing challenges of residents.
He said through its Social Auditing platform had over the time offered public education which had enabled the community to make their challenges known, and also offered them assess the performance of the projects and programmes by the Municipal Assembly and government at large.
The Municipal Director commended the Oversees Company Limited, a logistics management company, for refurbishing their office space, and called on others to provide the Commission with a vehicle to promote its civic education drive.
GNA