CSOs Promote Democracy In West Africa, Launch App

West Africa Network for Peace-building (WANEP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have launched a mobile application for citizens’ participation in accountable and inclusive democracy (C-PAID), with the broader programme focusing on strengthening mechanisms for assessing good governance in West Africa.

At the launch, the executive director of WANE Regional Ghana, Dr Chukwumeka B.
Eze, said, “Our government institutions, through annual manifestos, outline their goals, and then they themselves monitor, assess, and score their performance.”

He added, “Due to a lack of trust between citizens and the State, we aimed to address citizens’ expectations regarding good governance for them and their communities.”
He said based on this, they have developed indicators, saying for instance, when claiming to be inclusive, transparent, and performing well in infra-structure, evaluation will be determined by citizens and their scores. He added that this will define how they rate the government’s inclusivity, transpar-ency, accountability, and developmental orientation.

“Considering the concerning trends in major cities and communities in West Africa, citizens are now raising crucial questions about the government’s actions.