The 2025 Open Government Partnership (OGP) Africa and Middle East Regional Meeting hosted by the Government of Kenya took place in Nairobi, Kenya, from 25^th to 27^th March 2025. This significant gathering brought together over 500 participants, including government officials, civil society leaders, policymakers, and international partners from across Africa and the Middle East. Held at the Radisson Blu in Upper Hill, Nairobi, the event operated under the theme “Rebuilding Trust through Open Government,” focusing on leveraging transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement to strengthen governance and restore public confidence in institutions.

The objective of the meeting was to exchange insights and discuss progress on open government initiatives through keynote speeches, panel discussions and interactive workshops. The conference also offered a unique opportunity to connect with leading experts and peers dedicated to advancing open government reforms.

Ghana’s participants at the Regional Meeting were Government Officials, Members of Parliament (MP), Heads of Public Sector Agencies and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). The members of the Government delegation that attended were Hon. Nana Oye Bampoe Addo, Deputy Chief of Staff; Hon. Lydia Lamisi Akanvariba (MP), Minister of State in charge of Public Sector Reforms and Chairman of the OGP Steering Committee; Dr. Eric Oduro Osae, Director-General, Internal Audit Agency; Mrs. Thelma Ohene-Asiamah, Director in charge of General Administration at the Public Sector Reform Secretariat and OGP Point of Contact; and Dr. Winifred Nafisa Mahama, Acting Director, Information Services Department.

Also from Parliament were Hon. Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, MP for South Dayi Constituency and Majority Chief Whip; Hon. Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, MP for Ho Constituency and Chairman of the OGP Caucus in Ghana’s Parliament; Hon. Alexander Akwasi Acquah, MP for Akim Oda Constituency; Hon. Prof. Grace Ayensu-Danquah, MP for Essikadu-Ketan Constituency and Mr. Frank Tse Diaba, Senior Assistant Clerk, Parliament.  

From the sub-national level, Mr. Baffour Ampofo Haruna, Regional Coordinating Director, Tarkwa Nsuem Municipal Assembly; and Mr. Isaac Aidoo, OGP Local Point of Contact, Sekondi-Takoradi Municipal Assembly.

Representatives from CSOs that attended the conference were Ms. Mary Awelana Addah, Executive Director, Ghana Integrity Initiative and Co-Chair of OGP Steering Committee; Dr. E. Kojo Pumpuni Asante, Director of Partnerships and Policy Engagement, Ghana Centre for Democratic Development; Mr. Sammy Obeng Executive Director, Parliamentary Network Africa; Mr. Emmanuel Asomani Koranteng, Penplusbytes; Ms. Dorcas Tenkorang, Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition and Julius Kofi Satsi, FactSpace West Africa.

Ghana’s delegation engaged in a Ministerial roundtable meeting, took part in sessions on digital technology, anti-corruption, access to justice, access to information, local and civil society leaders and open parliament. Bilateral meetings were also held with the Chief Executive Officer, OGP and the French Development Agency. The Team held other discussions with the Independent Reporting Mechanism of the OGP, Infrastructure Transparency Initiative (CoST) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The conference which ended on Thursday, 27^th March, 2025 engaged participants and experts in discussing various topics related to exploring innovative approaches in open government among member countries. The topics discussed at the meeting were Anti-Corruption - combatting graft and enhancing oversight; Climate Action - building collaborative solutions for environmental resilience; Digital Government - leveraging technology for efficient government; Fiscal Openness - transparent budgets and responsible expenditures; Access to Information - fostering an informed citizenry; Access to Justice - upholding the rule of law for all; Legislative Openness - inclusive policy-making and public engagement; and Local-National Open Government - bridging communities and national policy.   

Ghana was recognized at the conference for submitting two commitments for Open Government Challenge. The OGP delegation received certificates for misinformation and disinformation, and improving gender equality. Ghana was therefore countered among one of the few countries in Africa and Middle East region to have submitted commitments to the Open Government Challenge.  

OGP is an international initiative that seeks to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote openness, transparency, enhance citizen’s participation, promote accountability and adopt new technologies such as digitization to enhance good governance. Within the framework of promoting state – civil society collaboration, the OGP is governed by a Global Steering Committee comprising representatives of government and civil society organizations. Ghana officially signed onto the OGP in September 2011, and to meet its obligations under the Partnership, the country has developed and implemented four action plans with the fifth National Action Plan under implementation.

The conference ended successfully with the call to member countries to continue with their commitments based on the principles of good governance under the OGP initiative.     

Kindly follow the link below to read more.

 http://ghanaianannouncer.com/a-consultative-workshop-for-the-development-of-a-commitment-in-the-infrastructure-sector/

The Senior Presidential Advisor, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, has reiterated the government’s strong commitment to the principles of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), emphasizing efforts to improve governance, democracy, and transparency in Ghana.  

Speaking at a Multi-Stakeholder Consultative Workshop on the Delivery of Public Infrastructure in Accra, he highlighted the government's progress under the OGP framework, particularly through the implementation of four National Action Plans. 

Notable achievements have been made in several thematic areas, with a focus on transparency and accountability. Key among these is the establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor under the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959). 

In 2019, the government also created a legal framework for the Beneficial Ownership regime under the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992). This regime mandates the disclosure of beneficial ownership information, fulfilling a commitment made by countries implementing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). 

This was followed by the passing of the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989), which became operational in January 2020, marking a significant step towards improving government transparency and accountability. 

Achievement/challenges 

Hon. Yaw Osafo-Maafo highlighted the government's commitment to innovation and technology. He noted that the Ghana Open Data Policy, initially set to be finalized by 2018, has led to increased access to government data, supporting various data-driven initiatives.  

Ghana's efforts in implementing impactful, sustainable, and innovative commitments have been recognized, with the country receiving three awards in 2021 and 2023 for its achievements in Africa and the Middle East. 

However, Hon. Osafo-Maafo acknowledged that these advancements have not come without challenges. Budgetary constraints have posed significant obstacles, often leading to delays in the full implementation of commitments within their original timeframes. As a result, many projects have had to be rolled over. 

Looking ahead, Ghana is currently in its first year of implementing its fifth National Action Plan. As part of this, the government is focused on developing a specific commitment aimed at enhancing transparency and accountability in the delivery of publicly funded infrastructure projects.  

Hon. Osafo-Maafo stressed that Ghana is taking advantage of a one-year window provided by OGP member countries to finalize this commitment, which will include clear milestones, actionable steps, and a validation roadmap. 

“Our objective is to co-create and finalize an Infrastructure Transparency Commitment, guided by stakeholder feedback, to ensure greater transparency and accountability in infrastructure governance,” the Senior Presidential Advisor who doubles as the Chairman of the OGP Steering Committee said. 

The workshop, which brought together a diverse group of stakeholders, was part of ongoing efforts to refine the country’s approach to public infrastructure delivery and ensure that it aligns with international standards of transparency and accountability. 

The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a global multilateral initiative founded in 2011, dedicated to promoting transparency, accountability, and citizen participation in governance. By harnessing the power of new technologies and innovation, OGP encourages governments to adopt principles that ensure openness and integrity in governance processes.  

Since signing onto OGP in 2011, Ghana has worked towards embedding the values of transparency, civic participation, public accountability, and innovation across multiple sectors. In 2023, Ghana embarked on the implementation of its 5th National Action Plan (NAP 5), which has been the most rigorous plan to date, involving a broad range of stakeholders and diverse engagement mechanisms to develop commitments. 

The OGP provides a unique window within which an additional commitment can be included in the already submitted national action plans. As Ghana is in her 1st year of implementation of NAP 5, It is imperative that Ghana seizes this window to incorporate a specific commitment focused on transparency and accountability in the delivery of publicly funded infrastructure projects.

A delegation from the Presidential Communications Office and the Freedom of Information Project Management Office from the Republic of Philippines paid a peer learning visit to the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Secretariat in Ghana under the Public Sector Reform Secretariat on Friday, 4^th October, 2024. The meeting was held at the conference room of the Office of the Senior Presidential Advisor.

The visiting Team were Ms. Krizia Casey P. Avejar (Head of Delegation) and Chief Communications and Capacity Development Division; Ms. Hennesy D. Ozawa, Project Development Officer II; Ms. Sabrina Anya A. Feliciano, Project Development Officer I; Ms. Germie Ann Caber, Executive Assistant II; and Ms. Rainnie F. Emano Administrative Officer I. They visited the OGP Secretariat to learn best practices regarding the development and implementation of the OGP National Action Plans and the commitments expected of lead implementing agencies in Ghana and learn about Ghana’s OGP advocacy initiatives on Access to Information/Right to Information, reforms on Transparency and Open Government.   

The Team was engaged in a fruitful peer learning discussions and areas of interest with some of the OGP Steering Committee members and lead implementing agencies. It was chaired by Mrs. Mary Awelana Addah, Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative and co-chair of the OGP Steering Committee. Also present were Mrs. Thelma Ohene-Asiamah, Director and OGP Point of Contact in Ghana; Dr. (Mrs.)  Winifred Nafisa Mahama, acting Head, Information Services Department; and Mr. Musah Issah, acting Director, Regulatory Unit at the National Information Technology Agency.

Other members present were Mrs. Linda Quao, State Attorney, Office of Registrar of Companies; Mrs. Lucille Hewlett Annan, Commission Secretary, National Commission for Civic Education; Mrs. Esther Ahulu, Program Manager, Right to Information Coalition/Coalition of Human Rights Initiative; Mr. Stephen Azantilow, Director of Anti-Corruption, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice; Mrs. Elizabeth Obeng-Yeboah, Director at the Office of the Head of Civil Service; Ms. Nora Lartey, Programme Officer at the Ministry of Information; and Mr. Sosthenes Senanu Nyadroh, Deputy Chief Information Officer, Information Services Department.    

Mrs. Ohene-Asiamah made a presentation on the background of the OGP especially on the global and national context, structure of Ghana’s OGP, Ghana’s OGP terms of reference and the National Action Plans developed and implemented so far. She provided cogent information on the global front by indicating that since 2011 till date, OGP members have grown from 8 to 75 national level membership, and 150 local OGP members with 7 from Ghana. According to her, 10 out of the 75 countries globally were from Africa which included Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina-Faso, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Tunisia, and Tanzania.

She added that the Ghana OGP was governed by a 20-member Steering Committee with membership drawn from relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). It was established in August 2012 and currently chaired by the Senior Presidential Advisor, and co-chaired by CSOs representative, the Ghana Integrity Initiative. The multi-stakeholder steering committee members have responsibility for the development of the National Action Plans, which capture the country’s OGP commitments. OGP Ghana has working groups drawn out of the Steering Committee around the various thematic areas of OGP namely; Transparency, Citizen Participation, Accountability and Technology and Innovation.

Dr. Nafisa Mahama also made a presentation on transparency under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by specifying that the commitments in the 5^th National Action Plan covers three key-fold areas. The areas were, to create public awareness on the RTI Act on how it operates and obligations of public institutions; pass regulations to fully operationalize the RTI Act and provide adequate funding for the implementation of the RTI Act.

Some of the milestone activities covered include, to complete the roll-out of the administrative structures in all regions of Ghana. She mentioned that the RTI Commission has opened two administrative offices; one in Kumasi and the other one in Sunyani. Again, 505 Information Units covering 16 Regional Coordinating Councils; 260 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs); 229 MDAs as well as Access to Information Division officers at 192 MMDAs and 129 MDAs across the country to process RTI requests of their respective institutions.

She made it clear that the training and capacity building of information officers to handle applications for information has been undertaken where 350 information officers assigned to public institutions have all been trained among other milestone activities.

The final presentation by Mr. Musah Issah was centred on commitment 14 of the 5^th National Action Plan which focused on data sharing and intermediation of public service delivery platforms. He indicated that there was the need to implement government’s digitalization initiatives to ensure quality Information Communications Technology (ICT) and provide best practices and standards. In that regard, some of the policies and laws produced to support the regulation were the Ghana ICT for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD); NITA Act 771; Electronic Transactions Act 2008, Act 772; Cyber Security Act 2020, Act 1038; and Data Protection Act 2012, Act 843.

He said, “the ability to share data seamlessly was critical for effective and efficient governance, however the inability to share data in government affect the decision making process of government, since government institutions largely operate in silos. This commitment therefore would set up the framework and guidelines to implement government’s data interoperability policy to enhance data sharing and intermediation”.

Mr. Issah added that the impact expected of this commitment on the data sharing and intermediation would facilitate the sharing of data among all the Information Technology systems in government and enable data driven decision making process by government. Citizens would be able to interact with institutions to validate, verify, ascertain information related to various subject areas such as product quality, registration status of a company from Food and Drugs and Standard Authorities. It would also strengthen consumer protection and competition in the digital economy and the security agencies largely would be able to share data to solve crime incidence against a citizen.

The peer learning meeting ended successfully with further explanations provided on issues related to the monitoring and evaluation mechanisms that would ensure the commitments were regularly adhered.

In providing her concluding remarks, Mrs. Mary Addah underscored the fact that despite the challenges identified, a lot of efforts had gone into the development and implementation of key commitments in the OGP 5^th National Action Plan. She intimated that the OGP Steering Committee were encouraged by this peer learning meeting and were assured that the explanation and insight provided would help them appreciate the processes involved in the development and implementation of Ghana’s OGP National Action Plans.