ACCOUNTABILITY AND GOOD GOVERNANCE

Aug 04, 2018 Editorial

No one is perfect, we all make mistakes, but it is when we fail to take responsibility for or blame others for them, that we fail as individuals and as leaders to be accountable. It is crucial for the people to hold politicians accountable, especially those in government for their actions and conduct in office. A higher quality of good governance is imperative.
Accountability is the obligation of an individual or organization to account for its activities, accept responsibility for them and disclose the results, whether good or bad, in a transparent manner. It is the exercise of entrusted power, answerability and taking responsibility.
In the context of politics, accountability is the obligation of government officials to be answerable to the public for all decisions made and actions taken by them, and to be responsible for honouring their commitments. Accountability and transparency are generally considered the main pillars of good governance.
The one lesson that politicians, and by extension all of us, can learn from this is that accountability has personal and ethical dimensions, in addition to responsibility to others, oversight or enforcement. Its different value systems appear to inform the conduct and behaviour of leaders and politicians to be accountable for fiscal and social responsibilities to those who have assigned such responsibilities to them.
Accountability includes achieving objectives and results in a timely and cost-effective manner, and delivering on all mandates in compliance with all resolutions, regulations, rules and ethical standards. In democratic countries no one, whether the president, prime minister or ministers of the government, opposition leader, commissioner of police, board chairman, etc. is beyond answerability. But this simple fact seems to be forgotten by the ruling elites.
It is the right of the people to always challenge the authorities to be accountable and transparent and they must be told in no uncertain terms that malfeasance of any kind is highly immoral and would not be tolerated. The public must send a clear message to politicians that their unscrupulous behaviour, abuse of power and corrupt practices are unacceptable and detrimental to society. Scandals, instances of corruption and abuse of power have been far too common in our society.
Now in office for more than three years, this administration is making some of the same mistakes its predecessor made. Like those in the last administration, some in this government have been behaving as though they are above the rule of law.
The late Nelson Mandela aptly stated that: “Even the most benevolent of governments are made up of people with all the propensities for human failings. The rule of law, as we understand it, consists in the set of conventions and arrangements that ensures that it is not left to the whims of individual rulers to decide on what is good for the populace. The administrative conduct of government and authorities are subject to scrutiny of independent organs. This is an essential element of good governance that we have sought to have built into our new constitutional order.”
One of the things that can be gleaned from Mandela’s statement is that accountability is the art of taking responsibility, accountable to the citizenry, ethical leadership, integrity, answerability and good governance.

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