Akufo-Addo on CSOs: The President was performing in front of an audience – Bright Simons

IMANI Africa Honorary Vice-President Bright Simons said he doubted the sincerity of President Akufo-Addo’s criticisms of the operations of civil society organizations (CSOs) in the country.

His comment follows statements made by President Akufo-Addo during his meeting with the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition at Jubilee House on the country’s fight against corruption.

The president reportedly expressed concern over the politicization of alleged corruption issues, but said he would continue to heed concerns and suggestions on the issue to step up the fight against the canker.

“It is unfortunate that the perception is that government commitment is diminishing, especially when two or three facts are taken into account,” President Akufo-Addo said.

Speaking on Joy News News File On Saturday Bright Simons explained that he formed this opinion because the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was known to use CSO-type engagement. Therefore, the President would only make such a submission if CSO activities do not support the interest of his government. .

“Unless you are not a democrat, that you do not understand democratic participation, it will be very difficult to argue, without laughing, that CSOs do not contribute in remarkable, extraordinary ways to the progress of our democracy and to the quality of our institution, which is why I say that the president performed in front of an audience.

“It’s surprising given that the president’s own party [NPP] has been a prolific user of CSO-type engagement with political space in Ghana. [We have] Let my vote count, Alliance of Accountable Governance. The president’s party is one of the well-known pioneers in establishing politically aligned think tanks like the Danquah Institute. This goes back to even before the transition to multiparty politics with the Young Elephants Club with a lot of civil society type engagement.

“So if the president suddenly feels uncomfortable about the work of CSOs, I guess it is because in some cases these activities do not correspond to his political interests. It is natural to expect that a political actor will not be too happy if there are other actors who are determined to subject their government to strict scrutiny. Some of them might have a political cost, so we’re not that surprised. We just don’t think he’s sincere in his concern for CSOs given the history.

Adding that “we just think it is understandable that if CSOs undertake activities that will perhaps have a significant political cost to the President’s party, it is natural that we would expect him to fight back.

Mr. Bright Simons further explained that the majority of CSOs in the country are not politically active. The majority of them, he said, are community organizations focused on volunteer initiatives.

“A lot of them are involved in cooperative type economic activities. We have CSOs which are mostly hometown associations. There is a great diversity of CSOs. In this wide range, perhaps one percent of them are politically active. The 1% who are politically active, the vast majority of them are still concentrated locally. So when it comes to nationally oriented and politically active CSOs, we are talking about a very small fraction of CSOs in this country. I’m not sure when the chair has concerns about CSOs, he has concerns about the 99% of CSOs that are generally community driven.