By Yaw Ansah, GNA, Courtesy European Union
Abuja, April 9, GNA - The West African Civil Society Forum (WACSF), a platform of groups with interest in good governance, has called on African leaders to urgently domesticate the provisions of African Governance Architecture (AGA) and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG).
The AGA and ACDEG are provisions motivated by the Constitutive Act of the African Union (AU), which sets out international standards of good governance and democracy.
They include issues of ensuring human and people’s rights, consolidate democratic institutions and culture and ensure good governance, the rule of law, free and fair elections, and condemning unconstitutional changes of government.
Mr Komlan Messie, General Secretary of the WACSF, speaking at a media interaction in Abuja at the weekend, explained that mainstreaming of the provisions would improve transparency in governance on the continent and ensure peace.
While congratulating leaders for not engaging in coup d’etat over the last 20 years, he suggested that inculcating the provisions enshrined in the AU instruments would be a complement.
Mr Messie observed that the enlightenment rate and the quest of ensuring that democratic tenets continued to grow in the past 20 years on the continent was a strong signal to leaders to inculcate and implement AGA and ACDEG ideologies in their system of governance to ensure peace and facilitate rapid development.
“Leaders are doing well, with ensuring free and fair elections. I say this because that there had been elections and the leaders did not resort to war, but presented their case to the court for peacefully adjudicated,” he added.
Mr Messie congratulated Sierra Leone's opposition candidate, Julius Maada Bio, for winning the run-off election and also commended the people of Serra Leone on their active and peaceful participation in the presidential elections, which was a testament to the strength and resilience of the country’s democracy.
He urged the media to tell the success stories of good governance including ensuring transparent elections, as well as successful transitions from one political party to the other to encourage leaders to embrace the good governance.
“The media need to change the narrative of telling the African stories from our perspective, which is the truth. There are very good initiatives going on in Africa of which when it is highlighted will motivate the youth.
“Let's not leave the stories to be told by other people who are only interested in the negatives,” he said.
GNA
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