The Executive Director of the Institute of the Democratic Governance, Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, has faulted former editor for BBC Focus on Africa, Elizabeth Ohene, for saying that civil society organisations (CSOs) were acting all-knowing.
Development Diaries understands that the veteran journalist had taken a swipe at CSOs in Ghana for their perceived inability to take criticisms.
‘I cannot understand why it is okay for them to point out what they believe to be wrong and, yet, someone pointing out what they might have gotten wrong is supposed to mean you do not want them to exist’, Ohene, who is a member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), said in an article.
She wrote the article at a time when CSOs are leading a campaign to get the government to suspend the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), Agyapa Royalties Limited deal, until all documents tied to the deal and its owners have been disclosed.
The Agyapa Royalties Limited was established by the government though the Minerals Income Investment Fund to manage the country’s mineral royalties.
However, the CSOs argued in a statement that the policy was being implemented in an opaque manner.
Reacting to Ohene’s article, Akwetey said, ‘I just felt that she probably could have incited government against civil society or people… The description was so biased and negative.
‘It could motivate somebody to say “let’s deal with them”. They are the obstacles in our way, the barriers, they have no right, and so on.
‘But we have all the rights to be there constitutionally to point what is wrong. Accountability is part of our function’.
He called for the relationship between the state and CSOs to be strengthened to benefit Ghanaians, saying that the labelling of CSOs as ‘all-knowing’ by Ohene was unmerited and should be dismissed.
Source: GhanaWeb
Photo source: GhanaWeb
