1. Introduction
A Civil Society Organisation (CSO) is a recognized institution whose mission is to influence public policy and opinion on specific areas of specialization through independent research and communication of findings, media relations and contact with stakeholders of public policy. Generally, CSOs are considered as public-policy research analysis and engagement organizations that generate policy-oriented research, analysis, and advice on domestic and international issues, which enable policymakers and the public to make informed decisions about public policy issues. Arguably, CSOs have become very influential due to the belief that governments alone are incapable of making proper and well-informed decisions on national issues due to the enormous volume of information they receive and time constraints they face. Basically, CSOs aim to influence public policy through constructive research and media briefing, critiquing and offering alternative views.
2. CSOs in Ghana
The growth and operations of CSOs in Ghana have become prominent within the past three decades. The change in the political climate from 1992 is a major contributing factor to this phenomenon. In the period between 1957 and 1992, the political environment was, to a large extent, characterised by authoritarian predilection, which did not allow dissent or public discourse on what government decided to do, even in periods of democratic experiments. There was little emphasis on permitting widespread popular participation in policy-making. Upon adopting democratic system of governance, good governance was accordingly developed as a system that would permit societal groups to permeate the decision-making process of the state. This led to an increasing attempt to enhance societal participation and engagement in the policy process, which is of primary interest to CSOs.
The oldest CSO in Ghana is the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), which was established in 1989. Over the years, many more CSOs have emerged. The prominent ones actively operating in Ghana include the IEA, Center for Democratic Development (CDD), Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP), Legal Resources Centre, IMANI Ghana, Institute for Policy Alternatives (IPA), WACAM, Human Rights Advocacy Centre (HRAC), Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) among others. Arguably, these CSOs are contributing in diverse ways to the democratic development of Ghana. In their attempt to influence public policy and government accountability, they adopt the following modi operandi: research publications, seminars, conferences, workshops, round-table discussions, and the use of media and advocacy.
This section provides an assessment of CSOs in Ghana from the perspective of Ghanaians through the following five (5) lenses: research publications, human resource capacity, leadership, stakeholder engagement and credibility.
(i) Research output
An enquiry into civil society organizations’ ability to produce good quality research revealed that CSOs in Ghana are able to identify critical national issues and mobilize highly skilled researchers for the task, especially when funds are available. It is contested that good quality research undertaken by CSOs make their views authoritative and respected. For instance, ACEP speaks to energy issues from informed research findings. However, further enquiry into the social acceptability of CSOs’ publications showed that research findings by CSOs seem too technical for people. Although this weakness is debatable, it is important CSOs communicate in simple and precise terms in trying to influence public policy and government accountability.
(ii) Human resource capacity
The calibre of personnel working in CSOs in Ghana is not different from the prevailing staffing situation in the global south. In terms of staffing, the strength of these CSOs is their ability to attract experts and professionals for their research activities. However, a worrying trend is that CSOs in Ghana relies so much on external researchers. In other words, they have limited experts in-house. It is a well-known fact that many CSOs in Ghana do not have staff with advocacy expertise and this explains their inability to exert much influence in bringing about policy changes. Without the necessary capacity, civil society organisations are likely to be used only as guise to building legitimacy for government policies rather than inviting new thinking and options in the policy making processes.
(iii) Leadership
The qualities of executive directors of CSOs are major contributing factors to the organisations’ high performance. An executive director shows the way and gets things done. However, the issue about what would be the state of prominent CSOs in the absence of their executive directors becomes critical. This raises concern about succession planning and its ramifications. There appears to be a lack of clear strategy for succession in case key staff such as executive directors of CSOs are not available. Closely linked to this problem is the issue of undefined career path. Thus, it is unclear how a staff progresses in a civil society organization in Ghana. Additionally, it is reported that these CSOs are unable to retain high calibre personnel and high staff turnover weakens the organizational strength in terms of human resource capacity.
(iv) Stakeholder engagement
Another strength of civil society organizations in Ghana relates to their ability to create multi-stakeholder discussions. Arguably, due to their neutrality, CSOs have what is popularly called “convening power”. This explains why stakeholders honour invitations from civil society organizations for dialogues. In other words, stakeholders feel comfortable attending workshops and meetings organised by CSOs in the sense that these platforms serve as “rallying point” to learn, unlearn and relearn for stakeholders.
In spite of the engagement, there is asymmetry of power in the state-CSO relationship. The situation is attributed to the fact that the interaction between the two is not institutionalized and therefore lacks formal rules to regulate the partnership. The absence of guiding principles means that government does not feel obliged to share information or include CSOs in policy dialogues. Going forward, a working framework that will recognize CSOs as equal partners, and include them in all processes from the conception of ideas to implementation and monitoring is therefore required for an effective civil society engagement in policy processes.
(v) Credibility
The credibility of a CSO is largely explained by its neutrality in all sectors. However, there are mixed opinions. A section of well-meaning Ghanaians is of the view that sometimes CSOs do not understand or miss the real issues in policy discussions and end up making a mountain out of a molehill. In addition, it is contested by others that some CSOs in Ghana have ‘cordial’ relationship with government and therefore are unable to put necessary pressure on government to take policy actions. Like many around the globe, CSOs in Ghana must endeavour to strengthen their credibility to the public.
Another worrying situation is that CSOs in Ghana face funding challenges. Unlike countries such as China where government funds CSOs to undertake research to aid policy decisions, CSOs in Ghana hardly get government sponsorship. Thus, CSOs in Ghana rely extensively on external sources (donors) for funding. These funds come from organisations based in the developed world and it is very tempting. In Akan, there is an adage that “it is poverty that makes the poor person sell his or her wisdom to the rich”. To wit: if you are poor, you are easily influenced or deceived. In this light, CSOs in Ghana are tagged with credibility issues, especially when their research findings do not favour certain sections of the public.
4. Conclusion
In conclusion, civil society organisations in Ghana still remain shallow, limited to information sharing and consultation rather than joint decision making or policy direction, initiation and control.
My name is Kofi Anokye, a development enthusiast, and by the time I leave this world, it must be better than I found it.
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