The Centre for Public Opinion and Awareness (CenPOA), a civil society organization, emphasizes the importance of strong institutions over strong leaders.
CenPOA believes that when we have strong institutions, it will help in ensuring that political leaders don’t make lofty promises or take the Ghanaian voters for granted.
Executive Director for the centre, Mr. Michael Donyinah Mensah reiterating the famous quote from former President Barrack Obama stressed that without strong institutions, our leaders will continue to mess up the economy, make promises and not fulfill them.
“Building strong institutions is crucial for good governance, sustainable development, state independence, accountable governance, zero tolerance towards corruption, and ensuring lasting peace and stability. The independence of institutions is a key factor in promoting stability, peace, social and economic growth, and, most importantly, justice.”
‘’We need to build strong institutions and not strong leaders because if our institutions are strong, the politicians will not mess up our country,’’ he noted.
The speaker cited the failed Cape Coast airport project as an example, suggesting that if strong institutions existed, the Airport Company of Ghana would have assessed the feasibility of the project, which would not require a politician to make such a pledge.
He also called for a review of the constitution of Ghana to fine-tune it to build strong institutions, and ‘’when we build strong institutions, they would be capable of spearheading some of those promises the two major political parties recycle every election year”.
Speaking on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, he posited that unfortunately, we are witnessing the same thing over and over again as we have witnessed every election, with the two parties making promises that are unrealistic.
He noted that the two manifestos issued by the NPP and NDC cannot handle the country’s difficulties in the short, medium, or long term.
“The outcome of the elections would not solve our problems. That is the position of CenPOA.”
He stressed the need for us to consider building strong instititions as a country so we can have a framework for effective decision-making, ensure accountability, and promote transparency.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
