By: Jacqueline Ampo
Founder and President of the Africa Center for Economic Transformation, ACET, Dr. Kingsley Amoako, says his organization in collaboration with stakeholders including the National Commission for Civic Education, NCCE, is formulating a Compact Ghana Initiative.
The initiative is to chart Ghana’s economic and political future by 2050. Dr. Amoako, who is also a Convenor of the Compact Ghana Initiative, said there is the need to produce a social contract or an actionable agreement, outlining the rights, responsibilities, and expectations of both public and private sector actors for stronger civic cohesion and transformed economy.
Speaking on the initiative in Accra, Dr. Amoako emphasized, that the compact Ghana initiative will ensure a more secured path for Ghana’s economic recovery. He said the initiative will define Ghana’s economic and political future and build a prosperous nation where individuals, agencies, and organizations thrive, by 2050.
“This document will serve as an accountable agreement between the government and the citizens of Ghana that outlines our country’s collective aspirations and goals between now and 2050 and list out the shared responsibilities for achieving these goals. For the government, the social contract will stress the need to plan and manage finances responsibly, focus on long term planning rather than changing course every four to eight years and to prioritize the wellbeing of people over politics. For citizens it will stress the need to hold governments to account for progress and rededicate ourselves to the values and ethics of hard work, service and, responsibility that must define our country”, he emphasized.
The Secretary General of the Trade Union Congress, TUC, Dr. Anthony Yaw Baah, said the Compact Ghana initiative will help shape how organizational structures operate, while ensuring a safer and good working conditions for the Ghanian worker. Dr. Baah, urged the media to play lead advocacy role in getting the ordinary Ghanaian to embrace the Compact Ghana initiative.
“The compact is going to be a term of reference for the people that we elect to lead us and we have to make sure that after we have given them that terms of reference, they go by the terms of reference. And that is why
“The monitoring mechanisms that K. Y talked about is important. That is why the involvement of NDPC is important. That is why the involvement of NCCE is important, because it is one thing developing the compact as a Terms of Reference for the leaders that we elect. It’s another thing getting them to follow. So, the accountability mechanisms that K. Y. talked about is key and we will have to make sure it works. If it doesn’t work then what we are doing will come to nut. Everybody is involved, the press, you are supposed to carry this to the people in every form to make sure that every Ghanaian in this country knows about this compact and that we are all part of” he said.
The two-day public forum by the Africa Center for Economic Transformation, and its partners will gather input from civil society groups, government agencies, youth groups, and other pressure groups in formulating the long-term initiative, and proffer solutions to challenges facing the country.
