Ransford Gyampo discusses his research on election politics in Ghana. The interview focuses on the changes to the campaign environment following a 2008 agreement on a code of conduct. Van Gyampo mentions the impact of two independent institutions on the forging of a campaign agreement. He also talks about how the enforcement of the agreement was popularly demanded and carried out after the agreement was widely distributed. He also discusses the relevance of a strong civil service to election reform.
At the time of this interview, Ransford Gyampo was a professor of political science at the University of Ghana. He conducted extensive research into recent political trends in Ghana and especially into the 2008 election. He also was an assistant professor at the Governance Center of the Institute of Economic Affairs in Ghana. He earned a master’s degree in political science and specialized in human rights and government.
Emmanuel Debrah discusses the successes and challenges of the electoral process in Ghana. He focuses on the role of the electoral commission in planning, implementing and monitoring elections and details that process. Debrah explains the successes and challenges of voter registration in a country with limited records of birth or citizenship. He also discusses the role of political parties in cooperating with the electoral commission, the relationship between the electoral commission and the government, and the monitoring and observation procedures for local and international observers. Finally, Debrah touches on financial accountability structures for election officials, border demarcation issues and anti-fraud measures.
At the time of this interview, Emmanuel Debrah was a senior lecturer in the department of political science at the University of Ghana in Accra. He performed numerous studies of elections in Ghana, particularly on the role of the Electoral Commission. Debrah received his doctorate in political science from the University of Ghana.
Johnson Asiedu-Nketia discusses his role as head of the National Democratic Congress in Ghana’s Inter-Party Advisory Committee. He describes how IPAC was able to introduce sophisticated voter registration systems and set an election schedule agreed upon by all political parties. He also says that both IPAC and the Electoral Commission declined in effectiveness after 2000, which he attributes to lack of government support, reduced funding and an increasingly antagonistic relationship between IPAC and the commission. He briefly touches on the role of the party in contributing to electoral transparency.
At the time of this interview, Johnson Asiedu Nketia was general secretary of the National Democratic Congress in Ghana. Prior to becoming head of the party, he was a member of Parliament for the NDC for 12 years. He also served as deputy minister of food and agriculture. Before entering politics, he worked as a bank manager.
George Sarpong explains the role of the National Media Commission in Ghana, and the role the media plays in elections in Ghana. He goes into detail about the way media is employed by the political parties and the electoral management body, distinguishing between state-owned media and privately owned media in this process. He also explains the role of the media in educating the public in terms of voter registration and how the media has been used to reach out to marginalized populations. He explains how the media commission regulates negative campaigning, and he discusses the overall role of the commission. Finally, he describes how election monitors are used and what their goals are in monitoring elections.
At the time of this interview, George Sarpong was the executive secretary of the National Media Commission in Ghana. His extensive experience included involvement with media issues relating to elections through his capacity as the executive director of the Youth Network for Human Rights and Democracy, working with youth to increase capacity to participate in democratic discourse, and on issues to prevent violence in elections. He served as a member of the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers, coordinating media activities, and consulted regularly on media, media monitoring, and governance issues for multiple organizations. He also was involved in elections in Sierra Leona, Cameroon and Liberia.
Paul Adu-Gyamfi discusses the role of Ghana's National Media Commission in protecting press freedoms and ensuring journalistic standards, particularly during elections. He focuses on the role of the commission in ensuring the state-owned media are not unduly influenced by the government and in working with the electoral commission to monitor elections. Adu-Gyamfi explains the constitutional basis for the commission and also discusses the challenges faced by the media in Ghana.
At the time of this interview, Paul Adu-Gyamfi was chairman of the National Media Commission in Ghana. A lawyer by trade and a senior partner at Adu-Gyamfi and Associates, he previously served as president of the Ghana Bar Association. He also was a member of the executive council of the Pan-African Lawyers Union and was vice president of the West African Bar Association.
Kwamena Ahwoi recounts his experiences implementing decentralization policies in Ghana as part of his role in the Ministry of Local Governance and Rural Development. He goes into detail about the key challenges he faced, such as translating policy proposals into legislation, transferring functions from historically highly centralized agencies, and setting up political structures for decentralization. He talks about the methods to garner support for the initiatives through a consultative process with the support of a fully researched policy document, and effective use of the mass media, as well as the methods to overcome the challenges faced from those opposing the reform, such as some local chiefs. He details the bargaining that took place at the national level as a result of the policy document and the need for openness in the implementation process to allow people the opportunity to express their concerns. He explains that throughout the entire process there is a need to increase capacity at all levels to ensure the requisite skill set is assigned to its relevant area. Finally, Ahwoi offers his thoughts on the best ways to deal with the devolution of power in the decentralization process.
At the time of this interview, Kwamena Ahwoi was a principal lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration. Ahwoi has had an extensive career in the government of Ghana. He started his professional career as a professor of law at the University of Ghana before joining the Rawlings government in 1983. Jerry Rawlings, Ghana's military leader after a coup d'etat from 1982-1992, became the first president of the Fourth Republic in 1993, serving until 2001. Ahwoi served as secretary for the Ministry of Local Governance and Rural Development from 1988 to 1999, and doubled as the minister of foreign affairs from 1997 to 1998. Ahwoi also established the Ministry of Planning Regional Economic Cooperation and Integration before the Provisional National Defense Council lost power in 2001. After leaving office he also worked for the National Democratic Congress as director of research. He earned a law degree from the University of Ghana before going on to continue his studies at Oxford University.
Albert Kofi Arhin discusses the biggest challenges of conducting elections in Ghana. He details the process of drawing up a timetable for the elections. He explains the issues surrounding elections funding and the steps Ghana is taking to make them more affordable. Arhin also discusses staff recruiting and training, elections monitoring, boundary delimitation, and voter registration. He then focuses on fraud prevention, both in the registration process and during the elections themselves, and security issues. Arhin also touches on the Electoral Commission’s relationship with the media, discusses voter education, and offers advice for other countries conducting difficult elections.
At the time of this interview, Albert Kofi Arhin was the director of operations for the Electoral Commission of Ghana, a position he had held since 1998.
John Larvie gives a detailed account of the electoral process in Ghana and the relevant players at each level. He starts by explaining the timing and sequencing of elections in Ghana, including the length of the electoral process and the decisions involved in finalizing its schedule. The legal framework of the electoral system in Ghana is also addressed, focusing on regulations that govern eligibility, registration, voting procedures, and the voting system used. He then moves on to explain how the election management body, the Electoral Commission of Ghana, was established with specific reference to efforts to maintain its transparency, and how its responsibilities, budget, and appointments are administered. He offers further insights into the role the Electoral Commission plays in regulating the political parties, and its training, recruitment, delimitation, evaluation and poll worker protection procedures. Larvie also gives details on Ghana’s voter education programs and the use of election monitors and their monitoring methods. Throughout the interview he offers advice and insights into addressing challenges that arise in elections, such as funding issues, partisan appointments, and ballot design to prevent vote fraud. Finally he explains the need to use the media effectively.
At the time of this interview, John Larvie was working at the Center for Democratic Development in Accra, Ghana. His work since 1987 involved the management of decentralization, democracy and governance at the district and national level in Ghana, with a specialty in communications and public relations. He also trained election observers and poll workers, and worked in civic and voter education initiatives. Previously he held various posts in communications and public relations with the Electoral Commission of Ghana, district assemblymen, and the International Foundation of Electoral Systems. In recognition of his role in governance and democracy work, in 1997 he was made an honorary member of the Board of Elections in Washington, D.C.
Edward Larbi-Siaw describes in detail the process of tax administration reform in Ghana during the late 1980s. First, the reform program sought to recruit highly skilled and diversified personnel that could raise to the challenges posed by the new taxation environment. Larbi-Siaw describes alternative strategies to incentivize employment with the National Revenue Secretariat (NRS), including salaries matching those offered by the private sector and hierarchy adjustments aimed at providing in-demand scientists with ranks equal to those they would have at universities. This was possible only after the NRS was removed from the civil service to circumvent pay restrictions and rigid promotion systems. Second, the secretariat was transformed into an agency through an institutional overhaul that involved the creation of departments specialized in research, internal operations, auditing, finance and human resources. Third, enhanced supervision and monitoring of revenue flow contributed to an increase in effectiveness and a reduction in corruption and malfeasance. This was complemented by selective purges of corrupt or underperforming officials, with the notable exception of the operations core that remained largely untouched due to the strategic need to maintain the NRS running throughout the restructuring process and to minimize resistance. Larbi-Siaw attributes the lack of generalized resistance to the reform to the support of the government, a consensus-building approach predicated on internal deliberation and consultation with other relevant agencies, and the successes of creative outreach efforts of the newly created NRS customer service and public relations departments. Nonetheless, there were two main sources of resistance. First, civil servants resented the retention of revenue to sustain high salaries at the NRS, which resulted in the abolition of retention and the drain of many qualified staff. Second, public discontent over misused funds affected the NRS due to the inevitable link between revenue collection and expenditure. Information provision was key to transparency, and required extensive cooperation with the Ministry of Finance that could not always be secured due to intrinsic institutional conflict over jurisdictions. Both factors also contributed to the considerable delay in integration of the revenue agencies—the Internal Revenue Service and the Customs, Excise and Preventive Services—despite a stated preference for a one-stop shop. Finally, Larbi Siaw describes specific tax regulations that were introduced, highlighting the role of codification in the management of special interest groups that had previously been able to secure ad hoc exemptions.
At the time of this interview, Edward Larbi-Siaw was the tax policy adviser in the Ministry of Finance of Ghana. Trained as an economist, he initially worked at Ghana's central bank. He left that post to study law and management accounting. Upon returning to Ghana, he joined the National Supply Commission. As he specialized in economics taxation, he transferred to the National Revenue Secretariat (NRS) as chief director. While at the NRS, he was involved in important reforms in tax administration and the structure of taxation.
Augustina Akumanyi explains her role at Ghana's National Commission of Civic Education and how the commission was established, including its relationship with the government and its efforts to become and remain an independent body. She talks about how the commission operates, including staff appointments, operations, funding, budget authority, recruitment methods, and training and evaluation methods. She offers details of the responsibilities of the commission in voter and civic education activities and how these are shared with civil society and the media. This education can come in the way of messages that can either be motivational or instructional. Akumanyi gives her opinion on the best way to convey these messages, and which messages are more effective than others. Finally, Akumanyi shares her perspectives on the relationship between donors and host countries and ways to improve working relations.
At the time of this interview, Augustina Akumanyi was deputy chairman responsible for programs at the National Commission for Civic Education in Accra, Ghana. She had extensive experience in the Ghana Civil Service as well as more than 20 years working in the U.K. as a principle committee administrator in five London boroughs. She returned to Ghana in 2003 to work at the commission. She graduated from the University of Ghana and the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration.
