By Emmanuel Gamson
Takoradi, May 12, GNA – The African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET), in partnership with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), has engaged various groups in the Western Region to collate their inputs in drawing up the Ghana Compact.
The Ghana Compact is an initiative focused on setting a national vision to drive socio-economic and political transformation of the country.
The three-day Compact Citizens’ Engagement workshop, held in Takoradi, was attended by representatives of Civil Society Organisations, Persons with Disability, artisans, entrepreneurs, religious and traditional leaders, students, and youth groups among other stakeholders.
The engagement sought to identify the pressing challenges confronting them and collectively recommend some strategies to help address such issues, to be incorporated into the Compact.
Professor John Asafu-Adjaye, a Senior Fellow at ACET, said the Ghana Compact focused on setting a national vision that sought to drive socio-economic and political transformation in the country.
As part of efforts to put together the Compact, ACET partnered with some key stakeholders to undertake technical studies of the country’s critical challenges in all sectors of the economy.
“What we are doing today is coming to the grassroots to listen to their concerns and possible solutions, since they are the ones on the grounds…they can also tell us what is wrong with the country,” he said.
Prof. Asafu-Adjaye noted that ACET would combine recommendations from both the technical experts and the citizens and compile them into a social contract between governments and the people.
“We have already engaged political parties and they are aware of all these issues, and we’re hoping that they will also incorporate some of them into their manifestos for solutions,” he said.
The final report would be presented at a National Convention in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital, in June, where all political parties would sign the social contract, he indicated.
“What we want them to do is to look at all these issues and affirm that these are the challenges confronting the country and agree to implement the recommendations in the Compact.”
Mrs Lucille Hewlette Annan, the NCCE Secretary, said one of the Commission’s mandates was to collaborate with institutions to mobilise the citizenry to educate them on key national issues, hence, the idea behind the partnership with ACET to organise the workshop.
The engagement would be held in other parts of the country to generate a comprehensive report for the Compact.
Mr Justice Yaw Ennin, the Western Regional Director, NCCE, commended the ACET for collaborating with the Commission to collectively champion the course of civic education.
GNA