A delegation from Namibia has called on the leadership of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to understudy Ghana's implementation of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and its civic education in order to replicate them in their country. The eight-member delegation which was led by Mr Lineekela J. Mboti, Chief Executive Officer, Namibian African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), included Wilfried I. Emvula, Chair, National Governing Council of Namibia, Hildegard Kuzatjike, Jecinta Matergu, both from the Office of the Prime Minister, Namibia. The rest are Festus Hangula and Alfons Witbeen from APRM and Anna Shratika and Wilhencia Uiras from the National Planning Commission of Namibia. The meeting formed part of a four-day working visit by the delegation to Ghana. Discussions at the meeting focused on Ghana's implementation of the APRM programme, benefits, challenges, civic education in Ghana and how the Commission collaborated with other institutions, including civil society organisations to achieve mandated goals. Apart from the NCCE, the delegation also had a number of engagement with other state institutions including the National Governing Council of the APRM-Ghana, the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Mr Samuel Asare Akuamoah, a Deputy Chair in charge of Operations, who received the delegation, described the visit as a unique one considering Ghana's close and long standing relationship with Namibia. He said as an institution, the NCCE played critical role in Ghana's APRM as the Commission hosted the district oversight committees of the APRM. He noted that since the establishment of the Commission, it had been influential in sustaining the country's constitution for over three decades, emphasising the importance of collaboration with key institutions. On regional security, Mr Akuamoah, who is also a member of the Governing Board of the APRM, raised concern about the growing insecurity on the continent, particularly in the West African sub region. He charged regional leaders to do more to address challenges of the people to minimise the occurrence of coup d'états. 'I'm sure if we are able to account for the mandate that we are given, will tone down the challenges that confront us,' he said. Dr Imurana Mohammed, Director of Programmes, NCCE, said the constitution mandated the Commission to create awareness and sustain it. That, he said, the Commission did through the implementation of various programmes. For instance, he said, the Commission was currently implementing two programmes; the Preventing Electoral Violence and Providing Security to the Northern Border Regions of Ghana (NORPREVSEC) and Preventing and Containing Violent Extremism (PCVE) Project, to educate communities particularly within the border areas, to create awareness of the presence of violent extremist groups to curtail any possible attack . Mr Mboti, Leader of the Delegation, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said as a young member of the APRM, it was important that it engaged experienced countries who had implemented the programme for years in order to learn from them. 'We are in the process of mainstreaming the APRM processes in our country, in our governance system and therefore, we thought we should come to Ghana because you are a founding member for the APRM and we wanted to understand the challenges you have encountered in the implementation of the APRM in the country,' he said. He described their mission to Ghana as a 'productive' one, adding that they would try their best to make the APRM-Namibia a success story. The APRM is a voluntary arrangement among African States to assess and review governance and development at Head of State peer level. It was founded in 2003 as a self-monitoring mechanism to promote political stability, economic integration, growth and development at the African Union. Namibia joined the APRM in 2017.

Source: Ghana News Agency