The Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, says there cannot be accountability in Africa if there is a deliberate exclusion of the mass of the people from the governance process. He said it was in that recognition that the government had made a conscious effort, through the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), to involve citizens in the monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the national programme of action. Addressing the sub-regional conference on the APRM in Accra yesterday, the Vice President said accountability was the life blood of democratic governance. The conference was on the theme: "West African, Centre for the Advancement of the APRM (WACAA): A case for Promoting Good Governance." The APRM is a bold and ambitious undertaking which ensures that member countries adopt policies, standards and practices that lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated sub-regional and continental integration, through the sharing of experience, Mr Mahama said the introduction of the District APRM Oversight Committee provided yet another avenue for civil society perspectives to be captured. He said validated reports from the conduct of District Governance Assessment by civil society was debated at the district "assemblies while civil society provided empirical data for local authorities to address governance and service delivery challenges. He said the APRM afforded the continent the unique opportunity to move that vision a step further. The Vice-President affirmed the government's commitment to the ideals, vision and objectives of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). That commitment, he said, was born out of the fact that the reality of African integration could not be realised without addressing the issues of governance and leadership. Mr Mahama said Ghana was fully committed to the initiative, which seeks to co-ordinate the production, dissemination and sharing of knowledge and information on the APRM, as well as decentralise its implementation process to enhance effective governance in local authorities. The Vice-President advised African leaders not to dissipate their energies and resources on the creation of parallel institutions and expressed the delight that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was championing "this knowledge-based initiative". He said the APRM did not only underscore the new political will of African leaders to serve the well-being of their people, but it challenged the citizenry and other stakeholders to act responsibly. He said the fact that as many as 30 countries, representing more than 70 per cent of the continent's population, had acceded to the process was an indication of Africa's commitment to that new regime. The UN Resident Co-ordinator, Ms Ruby Sadhu-Rojon, called on participating countries to deepen their commitment to the process. She commended Ghana for the progress it had made by being the first to exceed the APRM target and also showing clear implementation of the action programme. Dr Patrick Agboma, a representative of the African Development Bank, pledged the bank's support towards the implementation of the APRM. Source: Daily Graphic