It said even though there was freedom in the country, state institutions needed to do more to enforce and enhance this freedom for the citizenry.

This was revealed in the 2015 governance assessment survey report conducted by the APRM. The 2015 report is expected to be ready by next year.

The Chairman of the Gomoa West District Oversight Committee (DOC), Dr Mark Nii Lamptey who presented the report at a review workshop at Apam last Friday called on state institutions to do more to enhance and enforce the freedom in the country for the people to have more confidence in them.

Quality education

The survey, among others, covered security, health care, access to quality education and electricity supply.

According to the report, surveys conducted tried to find out the most problematic democratic governance issues. It further stated that it would obviously be beneficial to people in governance positions to take research findings seriously since it could serve as a guide to help the ruler know what was in the mind of the ruled.

Dr Lamptey said the report indicated that governments needed to focus on solving unemployment challenges of the youth, quality education, health care, security and safety, road network, among others.

Throwing more light on the survey, he said the District APRM Governance project, undertaken by the DOC, was an action research process designed to investigate the state of governance and service delivery at the district level.

He added that the project made significant contributions to citizens’ understanding of good governance practices. It also offers a non-technical and civil society inclusive approach to monitor and evaluate the performance of district assemblies.

Dr Lamptey said the project was focused on a survey of perceptions of civicl society groups, including district assemblies, public servants, traditional authorities and the grassroot. It gave DOCs the opportunity to demonstrate their role in local governance by going to the people to find out the performance of the local governance administration.

He indicated that the methodology of the survey hinged on the four thematic areas of the APRM, including democracy and good political governance, economic governance and management, corporate governance and socio-economic development.

The report said for democracy to thrive in Africa, “we must not only emphasise obedience to the rule of law but also demand strong upright character which must be seen by all to be above board’’.

It said the trouble with Africa’s so called nascent democracies was not the absence of laws to guide proper conduct of business activities, governance and public service but the sustained efforts of leaders to engage in promoting lawlessness, egotism, hypocrisy, underhand acts and narrow-mindedness.

Attitude of leaders

“A change in the attitude of leaders who man the machinery of governance in Africa is, therefore, desirable and must be seen as very imperative,” adding that strong upright character, which promotes service above self, will certainly lend support to total adherence to the ethics of governance and help us remodel our approach towards the acquisition and use of political power.

It further said some leaders found it difficult to obey judgements delivered at the superior courts of judicature where such judgements did not reflect their will, while at the same time insisting that citizens should obey the laws of the land and court rulings.