He explained that the func­tions of the Council will include the annual release of a State of Governance in Ghana report.

“Every year, the Council will release a report on the state of hu­man rights, corruption, rule of law and a report on our governance, which will serve as a guide for the government to know whether we are on the right track with regards to issues of governance, corrup­tion, human rights, media, and other freedoms including torture and crime,”former President Ma­hama assured.

Addressing the National Dem­ocratic Congress (NDC) execu­tives, members, supporters and sympathisers as part of his cam­paign to lead the party to the 2024 elections, the former president indicated that membership of the proposed Governance Advisory Council would include represen­tatives of civil society organisa­tions, religious leaders, traditional authorities, and ordinary citizens.

According to him, the estab­lishment of the Governance Ad­visory Council as he had pledged would be yet another significant step in his quest to promote better governance, rule of law and fight corruption as part of his vision to improve political governance, help curb corruption and ensure the respect for human rights in the country.

Former President Mahama noted that in his first term as Pres­ident, he introduced a Code of Ethics for Ministers of State and Government Appointees which reflected his government’s vision to maintain a clean government imbued with systems, clear proce­dures, guidelines for performance and delivery.

He reminded ministers of state that while there were issues that would be accepted in the tradition­al and cultural context, they were unacceptable under governance ethics and legal conduct.

“One of the strongest ways to prevent unacceptable conduct and abuse of office by public of­ficials is to demarcate the ethical boundaries within which actions and inactions could be deemed to be acceptable or unaccept­able”, former President Mahama pointed out.

He asked the government to immediately begin admitting students into the fully completed New Abirem College of Edu­cation constructed by the then NDC government which was completed before the end of his tenure of office but had been abandoned and left to illegal miners as their warehouse.

Former President Mahama described the NDC as an “action and no talk party” while the NPP was a “no action talk only par­ty” because, despite the numerous resources at the disposal of the government, they had not been able to properly manage the economy well.