“We have to change our attitude towards democratic practices of which many citizens consider only as participation in elections to elect a President and Members of Parlia­ment (MPs),” she said.

Mrs Narteh explained that participation in elections to elect leaders for the country was not enough participation in democratic dispensation but they should also hold leaders accountable at all times, to sustain democracy, pro­mote good governance and reduce corrupt practices in the country.

She was speaking at a forum organised by GACC with sponsor­ship from the United Nations De­velopment Programme (UNDP), as part of activities marking the launch of the Volta Region Chap­ter of the Coalition.

It was under the theme: ‘Building a Culture of Accountability, Safe­guarding Democracy, and Promot­ing Inclusive Development,’ and attended by civil society organisa­tions (CSOs), professional bodies, associations and groups.

Participants at the forum appealed to the National Devel­opment Planning Commission (NDPC) to lead the development processes of the country, instead of leaving it in the hands of politi­cal parties in government to ensure change of government does not stall development.

Mrs Narteh stressed that it was important for citizens to active­ly participate in the democratic dispensation, rather than being observers because it was the duty of Ghanaians to hold leaders accountable after electing them to office, and should not overlook them only to vote for them again after four years.

She observed that citizens en­couraged corrupt practices, when they failed to demand probity, transparency and accountability from their leaders, and tasked them to show more interest at those in leadership, saying “it is unfortunate culture of showing interest in elec­tion of leaders override interest of holding people in authority accountable.

“The citizenry should effectively participate in the development processes of the country so that lateness to work should equally be regarded as corrupt practice and should be stopped, since such practices affect progress, growth and development,” Mrs Narteh contended.

The Communication Officer of the Centre for Democratic Devel­opment (CDD), David Gomado, indicated that it was important for Ghanaians to demand how state funds were being used because state resources were mostly mo­bilised through taxation and it was their right to demand accountabili­ty and transparency.

“Governance becomes one way affair, where the citizenry particu­larly the youth are only at receiving end without knowing much about development activities and serves as breeding ground for corrup­tion, so civil society groups and religious bodies should effectively and efficiently participate in good governance to accelerate socioeco­nomic development,” he admon­ished.