5 APRM COMMITTEES IN BA INAUGURATED (PAGE 39)

Story: Samuel Duodu, Berekum

THE African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) oversight committees for Berekum and Dormaa West muncipalities, Jaman North, Jaman South and Dormaa East districts in the Brong Ahafo Region have been inaugurated.
The committees comprise nine elected members from selected identifiable stakeholders groupings at the district level and the District Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) as an ex-offocio member, bringing the total membership of each committee to 10.
The objectives of the committees are to educate and sensitise community members to better understand the APRM process.
APRM is an African self monitoring system in which a country voluntarily accepts to undertake an internal audit of its political, economic, corporate and socio-economic governance system by ordinary citizens, after which an external audit or verification is conducted by an independent panel from the African Union (AU).
Ghana was among the first 12 countries to officially accede to the APRM by signing the Memorandum of Understanding in March, 2003.
The Chairman of the National APRM Governing Council (NAPRM), Rev Prof S.K. Adjepong, who is also the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast and currently the Vice Chancellor of the Methodist University College of Ghana, inaugurated the committees at a ceremony at Berekum.
He reminded the committee members not to politicise their work, since the APRM was a process set up to foster effective governance and socio-economic development of the African continent.
Prof. Adjepong stated that the NAPRM-GC had pledged not to be partisan. He, therefore, urged the committee members not to see their selection as an opportunity to score political points.
"The moment we realise that you are being partisan, we would take you out of the committee," he cautioned.
Prof Adjepong told them that their work was a sacrificial one that call for dedication, selflessness and sacrifice.
He advised them to live above reproach and refrain from anti-social behaviours that could cast a slur on the image of the committees.
The NAPRM-GC Chairman also urged the committees to endeavour to undertake their activities in a spirit that would promote national unity and progress towards the achievement of good governance in their respective districts and the country as a whole.
A member of the Berekum committee, Mr Edward Nyamekye, on behalf of all the committees, thanked the people for selecting them to serve on the committees.
He pledged that they would work hard to justify the confidence reposed in them, and appealed for support from the national secretariat to enable them to work effectively.