Dr. Emmanuel Akwetey, Executive Director, Institute of Democratic Governance on Wednesday, called for the involvement of former Ministers of State in local governance.
He said their rich experiences could be major sources of knowledge to enhance national policies for better development.
Dr. Akwetey was delivering a lecture on the sub-topic: "Education for Citizenship", at the on-going 61st Annual New Year School in Accra.
He noted that unless Ghanaians and especially politicians changed their attitudes to ensure an all-inclusive governance system, Ghana would face major challenges of ensuring a sense of ownership through citizenship and failed to achieve true democracy and development.
Dr Akwetey said currently, Ghana was mismanaging her human resources that were already scarce by allowing politicians to exhibit attitudes of pettiness due to their political differences and called for change in attitudes, to bring about a sense of belonging and enhance patriotic citizenship.
He said such negative attitudes had stifled national development and significant growth at all levels and called for tolerance and the
democratisation of executive powers at the local level of governance to bring about the required change.
Dr. Akwetey observed that citizenship education was a major key to bring about the needed change in attitudes at all levels and the recognition of potential human resources for effective governance and national development.
He noted that the situation where former Ministers of State in previous governments were totally relegated to the background was not ideal
because such experienced and knowledgeable personnel were rather valued and appreciated outside the country.
"They are often consulted widely for the development and enrichment of policies and programmes of other countries, while Ghana continued in the search for fresh brains to learn on the job", he added.
Dr. Akwetey argued that true democratic governance must reflect an all inclusive view and involvement of the entire citizenry and an exhibition of a strong sense of citizenship rather than a shift of focus on a section of the society and called for the intensification of civic education to effect a change in attitudes and the mindset of the people.
He condemned the phenomena where ethnic politics was gradually becoming the game of the day not only in Ghana, but world-wide that had the tendency to stifle national development because many qualified citizens would be deprived of their fundamental human rights and prevented from serving their nation to their capabilities to bring about the required development.
Dr. Akwetey said overdependence on donor support, dual roles by different state institutions as well as inadequate allocation of resources to structures that would ensure accountable governance were major set backs
to true democracy.
He advocated for the formulation of a broad based citizenry and long term education strategy which would critically look at the attitudes of adults, the youth as well as children and help them change their attitudes,
while instituting structures that would create the enabling environment for their involvement in governance at the local levels.
Dr. Akwetey mentioned such programmes as the establishment of social clubs, institution of debates or symposia and lectures, as well as drama at various social gatherings to educate the citizens and involve them in governance to reflect total democracy in Ghana.
Dr. Esi Sutherland-Addy, Senior Research Fellow and Head of Language, Literature and Drama Section of the Institute of African Studies, urged the various study groups of the School to critically examine the issue of human resource management, problems of multi-ethnicity as a nation and develop strategies and recommendations of reversing the situation to create a better
sense of unity, good governance and national development.
She called on political leaders and individual citizens to be personally responsible, learn to play their citizenship roles and be
dedicated to the cause of Pan-Africanism and eschew wrong doing in the society.