Accra, May 26, GNA – The Senior Presidential Advisor, Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo has opened the National Stakeholder Consultative Meeting aimed at developing the fourth National Action Plan (NAP) of Ghana’s Open Government Partnership (OGP) initiative.
The Consultative Meeting, organized by the Public Sector Reform Secretariat, Office of the President, offers the platform for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Government to discuss and identify key priority commitments for the Fourth NAP.
In a brief statement, Mr Osafo-Maafo indicated that “OGP presents an enormous opportunity for Ghana to demonstrate to its good people and the international community, its deepest commitment to pursuing open government.”
Mr. Osafo-Maafo said government had shown great commitment through several achievements made under the various thematic areas through the implementation of three OGP National Action Plans.
“Key among them, on the theme of transparency and accountability, is the enactment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017, Act 959, which established the Office of the Special Prosecutor and the subsequent appointment of a Special Prosecutor,” he said.
The Senior Presidential Advisor indicated, that, after Ghana exited the IMF-sponsored Extended Credit Facility (ECF), the government imposed on itself fiscal discipline and transparency by the passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2018, Act 982.
“The Act capped annual deficit to no more than 5% GDP and prescribed related censure of the Minister of Finance in the event of breaches,” he added.
Mr. Osafo-Maafo however, said that the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 “with its adverse effect on the economy of the country led to its suspension with the approval of Parliament.”
The Senior Presidential Advisor also noted that the enactment of the Companies Act, 2019, Act 992, established the legal framework for the Beneficial Ownership regime in fulfillment of the resolution, which made beneficial ownership disclosure mandatory for all implementing countries of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).
Based on that, he said the Registrar General’s Department (RGD) was implementing a Beneficial Ownership regime based on the Act following the completion of the upgrade of its electronic register to enable it receive data.
Mr. Osafo-Maafo observed that the Right to Information Bill, which was passed by Parliament in March 2019 and became operational in January 2020, was also “an important instrument for the promotion of transparency and accountability.”
The Senior Presidential Advisor informed that a State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) was established by an Act of Parliament, Act 990 with the aim of ensuring that activities of all State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and Joint Venture Companies (JVCs) were monitored to promote efficient operations and adherence to good corporate practices, among others.
In other respects, he said Ghana was considered a leader in Africa in Open Data Initiative because the Ministry of Communication and other Ministries and Agencies made major commitment in 2017, under innovation and technology, to finance the Ghana Open Data Policy by 2018.
Mr. Osafo-Maafo hinted that the consultative meeting would report on the review of the first three National Action Plans and on the Political Economy Analysis on the governance structure, and capture government policy priorities to inform the development of the fourth NAP.
The meeting would also identify, prioritize and agree on key areas for inclusion in the NAP four, sensitize existing and potential implementing institutions and agencies on OGP to secure their commitment.
The meeting would also review past approaches to implementing the first three NAPs and agree on modalities to hold each other accountable for the implementation of the NAP four and strengthen opportunities for interactions between government and CSOs on their role in development through the open governance process.
The open Government Partnership is a global initiative that brings government leaders and civil society advocates together with the aim of promoting transparency, empowering citizens, fighting corruption and encouraging the use of new technologies to improve governance.
The consultative meeting was organized in collaboration with the Ghana Integrity Initiative and the Steering Committee of the National Open Government Partnership Initiative.
GNA