Wednesday stressed the need for political parties to be financed by
the State in order to create a level playing field for effective
participation in the governance processes.Speaking at a press
conference in Accra at the end of a two-day follow-up meeting,
Brigadier-General Francis A. Agyemfra (rtd), Senior Fellow, Institute
of Economic Affairs (IEA), said the meeting enabled participants to
affirm their commitment to harness the energies of the participating
political parties in both countries.
He noted that solutions to some of the problems in multi-party
democracy could be found through consensus building and a clear
definition of roles for all stakeholders.Brigadier-General Agyemfra
(rtd) said the meeting acknowledged the merits of concerted efforts
from political parties in both countries towards achieving democratic
governance in the West African Sub-Region and agreed to ensure free,
fair and credible elections in both countries.
He said participants agreed to continue using the Permanent
Consultative Conference of Chairpersons of Political Parties of Ghana
and Togo to sustain the spirit and commitment demonstrated at the
meeting.Nana Ohene Ntow, General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party
(NPP), said the meeting marked a political milestone since it enabled
participants to entrench the principles and practices of multi-party
democracy.He said there was general agreement among participants that
multi-party democracy had proved to be the best and that his party
would adhere to the principles and practices such as transparency,
protection of individual rights and accountability.
Alhaji Ahmed Ramadan, a representative of the People's National
Convention (PNC), said the meeting helped to close the gap that
existed between the two countries. "The ultimate objective of politics
is that you have to be able to carry everybody along", he said.
The two-day joint consultative meeting brought together six
leading Togolese and four Ghanaian political parties.Participants
deliberated on issues such as the role of political parties, civil
society and the youth in ensuring peaceful elections, consensus
building in multi-party democracy, prospects for the sustenance of
multi-party democracy in both countries.The meeting was under the
theme; "Political Parties as Vibrant Actors in a Multi-Party
Democracy".It was organized by the IEA with support from the
Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD).
4 April 07
