Kwami Ahiabenu,II Knowledge Chief

By: Kwami Ahiabenu II Date : Wednesday, 13 January 2016 22:47 Election is undoubtedly on the mind of almost every Ghanaian as we usher in 2016. Apart from being the bedrock of our 'progressive' democracy, elections provide the power and means for the general populace to elect their leaders both at the presidential and parliamentary levels and provide the opportunity for the ordinary citizen to hold political leaders in check and accountable. The electoral processes involved in the lead up to and the main elections should be a home run at this point in Ghana's history. After all, per Huntington's two-turnover test, Ghana has achieved democratic consolidation and all political actors seem to be willing to play by democratic rules. However, the 2016 election promises to test how deep Ghana's supposed consolidated democracy is. With this promise comes the usage of new digital technologies and the possibility of it impacting the election in both...

10 December 2015   Enhancing African and African-led capacity for disease surveillance  stakeholder conference 14- 15 December, Arusha, Tanzania   An unprecedented outbreak of the Ebola virus has shocked the world; MERS is spreading; and Africa continues to suffer from chronic neglected tropical diseases   ·       How can we work together to enhance African-led capacity for disease surveillance and ensure earlier, faster, smoother and smarter management of epidemics?   ·       Bring frontline One Health voices to the policy table?   ·       Ensure sustainable, community-led African solutions to African challenges   Frontline experts will be gathering to showcase best practice for managing disease outbreaks and exploring ways of enhancing African and African-led capacity building, during a ground-breaking Enhancing African and African-led Capacity for...

Experts in mineral sector have observed that mineral-rich countries required good corporate governance structures to be able to properly convert their natural resource wealth into sustainable economic development.   The Media Capacity Development Officer of the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), George Lugalambi said recently that natural resources such as oil, gas and minerals, hold great potentials for development, which, when properly managed would help transform economies.    "Transforming oil, gas and mineral wealth into sustainable development requires a complete chain of economic decisions and strong foundation of good governance," he said at the sixth regional media training on oil, gas and mining in Ghanaian capital, Accra.   He said economic decisions on the exploitation of natural resources could make a base for policy making in the future, apparently calling for thorough consideration prior to their implementation.   "You must understand t...

Mr. Kwami Ahiabenu, Executive Director of Penplusbytes has admonished Ghanaians especially the youth to take advantage of the sprawling opportunities of Information Communication Technology (ICT) to deepen good governance and parliamentary democracy in Ghana. Penplusbytes is a non-governmental organisation that seeks to promote citizen participation in democracy through the use of ICT He said exchange of communication was no longer a barrier and therefore people could use ICT to constantly communicate with their Members of Parliament (MPs), Ministers and other government appointees, and make their concerns known while demanding accountability from them. Mr. Ahiabenu who was speaking at a citizen's forum, dubbed "dialogue with parliament" in Cape Coast on Thursday said the youth must positively utilize social media for the development of their communities. The forum which was organized by Penplusbytes with support from Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) formed...