Promoting good governance for a resilient democracy

Context

Ghana is considered as a stable democracy with a committed civil society that demands accountability from state institutions. However, high levels of debt, the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine are exacerbating social and regional inequalities.

Neither the government nor the district assemblies are currently generating sufficient revenue to finance social, gender-equitable and environmentally friendly development in the long term. In addition, administrations often do not know how to apply data-based methods when planning expenditure or adopt a participatory approach to land-use planning.

Corruption is a national challenge. To curb it, state anti-corruption institutions need to take a more coordinated approach, law enforcement agencies have to embrace digitalisation and civil society organisations and investigative media must be strengthened.

Objective

Public institutions in Ghana are better equipped to effectively implement citizen-centred governance with integrity and accountability, both nationally and locally.

Approach

The programme works on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and is cofinanced by the European Union and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

• It advises the Ministry of Finance and the tax authority on how to make the national revenue system more transparent, fairer and more effective.
• It supports the Ministry of Finance and district administrations in establishing a citizen-centred, gender-equitable and climate-oriented expenditure management system.
• It provides advice and training to national institutions and district administrations on how to foster participation when developing land-use plans and how to align these plans with development plans.
• It promotes digitalisation in state anti-corruption agencies and works with civil society organisations and the media to expose corrupt conduct and raise public awareness.

Last update: September 2024