“Consolidating Good Governance in Ghana: Lessons from the Last Decade”
Judge Francis Emile Short
Director of Ghana Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ)
World Bank, Monday, June 20, 2005.
This was the last presentation in the Leadership and Ethics in the Public Sector seminar series. Sanjay Pradhan, Sector Director, PRMPS, chaired the seminar, while Sahr Kpundeh, Senior Public Sector Specialist, WBIPR. Judge Emile Short highlighted took the audience through Ghana’s journey in the evolution and consolidation of democracy. Short placed in perspective the work of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice which he has headed as Commissioner since its inception in 1993.
The CHRAJ is a multi-function constitutionally-sanctioned independent institution which serves as a human rights commission, an anti-corruption agency as well as an ombudsman which mediates disputes between Ghanaian citizens and their government. The presenter outlined the functions of the Commission, its achievements, the challenges it has faced and the prospects for the future, all within the context of the history and democratization process which has unfolded in Ghana since the early 1990s. The establishment of the CHRAJ could be considered as one of the safeguards enshrined in the 1992 Ghana Constitution to insure transparency, accountability and good governance in Ghana in its transition from long years of military authoritarianism to multiparty parliamentary democracy. That constitution, which came into force in January 1993, also provided for the establishment of a number of other independent state institutions, a Bill of Rights and Freedoms, and also empowered independent print and electronic media, among other measures meant to consolidate democratic governance and development in Ghana.
In the first period of Ghana’s Fourth Republic, 1993-1996, the Commission was able to execute its mandate in spite of an apparently unfavorable atmosphere in the immediate post-military era: it was able to establish functional structures throughout the length and breadth of the country and undertook human rights activities by mounting nationwide workshops for police and prison officers about the rights of suspects, accused persons, and convicts. It was also able to conduct annual inspection of prisons and police cells to ensure that minimum standards upheld, and de-confiscated properties by the past military regime, and most important, it reversed certain executive decisions. These achievements were against the backdrop of the 1992 presidential and parliamentary elections which were boycotted and rejected by the opposition; little or no respect for human rights, rule of law and media freedom deficits; and little or no support for governance institutions including the CHRAJ.
In the second period of the transition, 1996-2000, there was significant change in the democratic climate starting with the 1996 elections which were keenly contested and considered free and fair; the opposition conceded defeat; the period also witnessed active participation of civil society and an unfettered media in the democratic process. However, Ghana experienced democratic deficits evidenced by a questionable voters register: “The number of voters registered, 9.2 million, out of population of about 17 million, many of whom were under 15, cast serious doubt on the credibility of the voters register. The incidence of rejected ballot papers was unacceptably high.” Ethnic bloc voting has persisted which has tended to place premium on candidates’ ethnic base rather than issues and public policy in voting preference. There was continued intrusion of military-era aberrations; for example, illegal arrests and detention of civilians by the military; crackdown on the media as journalists were prosecuted and imprisoned under the infamous criminal libel law; and pronouncements by Rawlings Administration officials that democracy was antithetical to progress and development tended to dampen enthusiasm for democracy.
In the third period, 2000-2004, Ghana experienced revolutionary democratic transformation because for the first time, there was peaceful and orderly transition of power through the ballot box from an incumbent government to the former opposition party; the former governing party having retained a significant number of seats constituted a vibrant and effective opposition in Parliament which was and continues to be a remarkable democracy dividend. The period also witnessed cessation of unlawful arrest, harassment and detention of civilians by military personnel, the repeal of the criminal libel law, and sustained efforts to enact a freedom of information bill, among other significant strides in democratic consolidation.
In the fourth and current period of democratic transition, the December 2004 elections, which were also heralded as free and fair, returned the incumbent President Kuffour to power but several of his party faithfuls lost their seats in Parliament indicating, according to Short, “that incumbency is not a guarantee of re-election. The voter turnout was an unprecedented 83%, an increase of about 9% more than the 2000 election, an indication that Ghanaians take political participation seriously, not the least their electoral politics.” The CHRAJ became more proactive in its watchdog role as it investigated and presented findings of complaints alleging conflict of interest against the President without interference and intimidation. The judiciary is becoming more independent and rule of law is more rigidly observed.
Overall, Ghana has made progress in this past decade as a fledging democracy and the CHRAJ has acquitted itself creditably as a multi-pronged democratization and governance consolidation institution. Short took questions from participants and used the opportunity of response to shed more light on the issues he raised in the presentation.
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