The last three of the 170 Oversight Committees of the various district, municipal and metropolitan assemblies in the country were on Monday inaugurated in Tema with a call on members to always place the national interest above their parochial interests.
Reverend Professor Samuel Adjepong, Chairman of the Governing Council of the National African Peer Review Mechanism (NAPRM), who made the call,
asked members to see their job as a sacrifice which should be geared towards good governance and the overall development of the nation.
The three Oversight Committees had nine members each and they are for the Tema Metropolitan, the Ashaiman and Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal Assemblies.
Rev Prof Adjepong said since the APRM was a people-centred concept, it was the responsibility of members to take the processes to the doorsteps of the ordinary people, pointing out that APRM would not succeed if the citizenry were taken out of the process.
He warned them to desist from politicizing the APRM concept, and advance the course of democracy, good governance and socio-economic
development of the country.
Rev. Prof. Adjepong advised members to work closely with their various assemblies and warned the assemblies to allow the committees to work in an independent manner devoid of any influence.
Prof Samuel K.B. Asante, Member of the Governing Council, urged the committee members to educate and sensitize community members to better
understand the APRM process.
On the impact of APRM on Ghana, Prof Asante said since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding by Ghana in March 2003, the concept had led to the establishment of the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture, and the abolishment of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, among other achievements.
Mr Ebenezer Kwaku Adjierteh, Chairman of the Tema Metropolitan Oversight Committee, said members of the various committees were determined
to work hard to help deepen the nation's democratic process.