My name is Lamisi Dabire, a freelance journalist from Ghana. I am currently a
Katherine W. Fanning International Fellow at the Kettering Foundation in Dayton, Ohio. I am studying public journalism and how it shapes citizen roles in democracy, specifically the various forms of citizen/media relationships that exist. This blog is a platform to track and document my thoughts. It is intended to create a platform for further dialogue with colleagues on the prospects of media creating a space for citizens to understand the dynamics of democracy and play their role. This is not just for voters, but also for citizens concerned about how communities are run. I come to this research with a background in both public and private radio having worked as a broadcaster with the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, a reporter with Joy FM in Accra, and also as a communication specialist with the Government Accountability Improves Trust (GAIT II) Program, a USAID funded Democracy and Good Governance project in Ghana.
I have been pleasantly excited about public hearings conducted by the Public Accounts Committee of Ghana’s parliament. Over the past couple of days the Public Accounts Committee has held public hearing on queries raised by the Auditor-Generals’ report for 2004/2005.
Staff of various Ministries, Departments and Agencies have all appeared before the committee to answer queries raised in the report. The public has been overwhelmed by reports of overpayments of contractors, improper award of consultancy services and uncompetitive procurement methods which contributed to the loss of funds running into billions of cedis.
Continue reading "Time for Public Accountability!" »
Ghanaians have for the past couples weeks been inundated with news of the New Patriotic Party’s presidential aspirants formally declaring their intentions to contest the party’s presidential slot. In a typical Ghanaian fashion, we have seen a lot of fun fair associated with picking nomination forms, filing nominations and launching their campaigns in different parts of the country.
A number of interesting issues have emerged concerning the New Patriotic Party’s opening of nominations; chief among them is the number of aspirants who have picked up their nominations forms to contest the flagbearership. Twenty people have so far collected forms; I believe the largest number of aspirants ever in the history of any political party since the forth republic came into being in 1992.There is also the issue of the large number of former ministers who were either kicked out of the government by the current president or resigned their positions to become aspirants. There are those who believe the larger number of aspirants gives credence to the fact that the NPP has men of talent and experience. We however wait for the end to the filing of nominations to see if all twenty men will return their forms and pay up the 250 million old cedis (a little over $ 24,000 dollars) as their filing fees.
Continue reading "19 Ruling Party Presidential Aspirants and What for Ghanaians?" »
Ghanaians have since July 1 switched to a new currency, the “New Ghana Cedi.” It is of the same value as the old currency but with fewer zeros to it. The new denominated cedi seem to be receiving some good reviews, it has been described as been easier to handle.
This comes as no surprise at all as Ghanaians over the years have complained about the bulky nature of our currency. The introduction of the New Ghana Cedi has reduced the quantity of notes carried by people. Before the introduction of the new Ghana cedi, its was impossible to carry two million old cedis (equivalent of 186 US dollars) in a wallet but now I can carry five times the same amount in my wallet depending on the notes.
Continue reading "The Ghanaian Cedi (GH¢): Talk of New Notes and Coins" »
