IEA At 25

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has clocked 25. As a think-tank it has carved unrivalled feats contributory to the enhancement of democracy in the country.

The role of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) of which the IEA is a significant component, cannot be overemphasised. They have played landmark roles in pre-independence activities and in shaping the freshly independent country when the Union Jack was eventually lowered.

With new economic fortunes staring the country in the face and the tendency for local politicians at the helm to be infested with the corruption contagion thereby engaging in money-grabbing sprees, CSOs serve as critical bastions against the public kitty thievery.

In contemporary times the IEA has been busy garnering relevant and varied opinions and recommendations on the management of the economy and ensuring good governance. Although there is room for improvement as it is with every human institution, the think-tank has traversed so many kilometres in its two-and-a-half decades of providing service to Ghana's growth.

Yesterday the think-tank marked its 25 th milestone at its office in Accra where representatives of the various political parties converged.

We congratulate the IEA for its achievements so far and pray that it continues to change the face of politics and fiscal management in the country.

We are particularly thrilled by the current project on its laps: ensuring that significant reforms are brought to bear on the electoral system in the country against the backdrop of the challenges encountered in the last polls.

Of no less significance are the efforts being exerted by the IEA in replacing the winner-takes-all concept in local politics.

The IEA story is a success tale about how a well managed civil society entity can serve as a bulwark against bad governance through responsible engagement with germane stakeholders. This assignment in a typical African setting is not a picnic affair. It calls for a lot of perseverance in the face of insults, innuendos and outright frustration from a government whose ways are at variance with the tenets of decency.

The IEA has over the years had its fair share of vitriolic reactions from government hounds who have often been unleashed on them with all manner of derogatory tags. Such bad tongues from infantile political characters who have been catapulted from their lowly places of origin to the corridors of power, have not dampened the spirits of the think-tank which has continued to soldier on nonetheless.

We associate ourselves with the civil society grouping and pray that the coming years see it wax stronger with overwhelming influence in the straightening of the rough edges of the democratic process.

The IEA has provided an important platform on which all shades of political inclinations in the country have engaged one another in progressive discourses to the benefit of our fledgling democracy.

One of the most prominent achievements of the think-tank is the Presidential Debate Series—a programme which has since its inception a few years ago afforded the electorate a rare opportunity to assess at close range their presidential candidates.

We congratulate the IEA on its 25 th milestone and urge the leadership not to relent in its efforts to infuse sanity into our governance and electoral systems.

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