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Ghana’s democracy fragile: it must be protected …IDEG cautions
Dr Manyo speaking at the event
Ghana’s electoral system, despite the successful exchange of power in the past years, is still not immune to external interference, the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG) Ghana, has cautioned.
It has therefore called on the government to safeguard the process and ensure it is strong enough to resist any form of interference ahead of the upcoming 2024 general elections.
This came to light at a training workshop for the media and other stakeholders in Accra on Thursday on managing the risk of election interference in Ghana’s election 2024.
According to the Civil Society Organisation (CSO), in a report presented by a Research Fellow at IDEG, Dr Joyce Manyo, the country’s democracy was fragile and must be protected.
Dr Manyo stated that recent developments in Africa showed that election interference was real, providing several reasons for the development.
She said IDEG observed following a recent research that Ghana was weak hence the need to take steps as a matter of urgency towards countering any possible interference to protect the country.
To help reduce instances of such interferences in Ghana, she said the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) needed to issue tighter cyber security guidelines and undertake public education on guidelines.
In addition, she said, comprehensive training for individuals and organisations on how to recognise and reject misinformation and any form of interfering tools was also crucial.
She said, political parties and politicians must also be transparent about funding.
Contributing, a Political Security Expert and Head of the Political Science Department at the University of Ghana Legon, Prof. Seidu Alidu said, Ghana’s relatively insecure online communication structure, inadequate counter-disinformation capacity, unencrypted methods for checking voter’s data and the manual tabulation of electoral data among others puts the country at the risk of political interference.
He said the government needed to take such matters seriously and provide lasting solutions.
By Michael D. Abayateye
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GEXIM deepens relations with US EXIM Bank
A management team of the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM) led by the Acting Chief Executive, Sylvester Mensah met with the leadership of the Export–Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM) on Wednesday April 23, 2025 in Washington DC, United States of America.
The Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM, Mr. James C. Cruse and Vice President, International Relations, Ms. Isabel Galdiz received the GEXIM delegation, which included Deputy CEO for Banking, Mr. Moses Klu Mensah and Head of International Cooperation, Mr. Jonathan Christopher Koney at the headquarters of US EXIM.
The meeting offered the GEXIM team the opportunity to share the strategic direction of the Bank in line with the resetting agenda of the President of the Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for the repositioning of the Ghanaian economy into an export-led one by providing the requisite investment to Ghanaian businesses.
Mr. James C. Cruse expressed US EXIM’s eagerness to deepen its existing relations with GEXIM and proposed the signing of a new Cooperative Framework Agreement following the expiration of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2019 to utilize US EXIM’s medium term loan guarantees to procure machinery by GEXIM for qualified Ghanaian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
Mr.Sylvester Mensah thanked the Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM for hosting the GEXIM delegation and reaffirmed the Ghanaian government’s commitment to strengthening trade and investment between Ghana and its global partners for economic transformation of Ghana with GEXIM playing a pivotal role.
The two teams will be meeting on the sidelines of the 2025 US EXIM Annual Conference on 29th and April 30, 2025 to explore possible areas of collaboration and matching Ghanaian businesses to American companies. The meeting ended with an exchange of gifts.
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Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation –Pres.Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has expressed concern over the misuse of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) for personal financial gain by individuals in leadership positions.
Speaking during a meeting with Chief Executives of specified entities under the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) on Thursday, March 13, the President directly attributed the dire state of SOEs to their leadership, accusing chief executives, management teams, and governing boards of prioritising personal enrichment over organisational efficiency.
He pointed to bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures as factors draining public funds while SOEs continue to rely on government bailouts.
“Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation by appointees. The chief executives, management, and boards of these enterprises are responsible for this situation. Some SOEs have become perennial loss-makers, draining public funds with bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures while relying on government bailouts as if entitled to them. Many of these entities are at their lowest point in the entire history of the Fourth Republic,” he said.
President Mahama further noted that many SOEs have been plagued by inefficiencies, corruption, and mismanagement, leading to consistent financial losses. He cited the 2023 State Ownership Report by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), which highlighted systemic inefficiencies and wasteful expenditures within these entities.
He therefore reaffirmed his commitment to reforming under-performing SOEs and ensuring they serve national interests.
He warned that loss-making SOEs will no longer be tolerated and will either be merged, privatised, or closed.
“I will assess you based on your performance. If you do not align with the pace of the reset agenda, you may be asked to step aside. If that adds to the horror movie, so be it,” he added.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
