The Ghana APRM process: a case study

This paper examines the context within which the Ghana APRM process was conducted, the nature of the assessment, the assessment process, and how the outcome of the assessment process was used.

The Ghana APRM assessment was conducted in circumstances under which the government, the opposition, civil society, and the country at large, were coming to terms with a new political dispensation. There was also the space available for non state actors to monitor and comment on the activities of government.

There were three key players in the politics of the APRM assessment:

• the government and related state structures;
• the opposition, who were perceived by the government as ready to dismiss the process as being under government manipulation, and
• civil society, who expected to be offered a prominent role in the process, in line with the provisions of the APRM.

One of the direct effects of the assessment and the resulting Programme of Action is that it set out in a clear and readily accessible fashion what was to be done, when, at what cost, and by whom. Thus stakeholders are much better able to monitor the progress or otherwise of the various programmes and projects contained in the Programme of Action.

A number of civil society groups are effectively monitoring developments within their respective thematic areas. However, they have been not so good at sharing this information with one another, nor have they set up mechanisms for doing so, as a result they are not able to collectively conduct advocacy for the issues of concern to them.