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Parliaments generally perform functions including oversight, legislation, and representation. In many developing countries, the representation function portrays Members of Parliament (MPs) as Developmental agents in their communities. One of the main sources of funds for MPs in Ghana has been the District Assemblies Common Fund. The Constitution of Ghana has created the District Assemblies Common Fund to transfer financial resources from the central government to local governments. Out of this has been the creation of the MPs share of the District Assemblies Common Fund. The allocation is made to help MPs directly address developmental challenges in their districts. This study attempts to assess the MPs Common Fund from both citizens’ as well as MPs perspectives. This is what we term ‘perception meeting practice’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One key approach to managing a pandemic is through effective government communication. How countries have utilized communication strategies during this novel Covid-19 pandemic has not yet been well documented in the literature. Using a qualitative document analysis approach, this paper seeks to answer the question; what communication strategies have been used by the government of Ghana to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic? The study identified that the government of Ghana has been using frequent Presidential Addresses, Minister's Press Briefings, designated Covid-19 Website, and Social and Traditional Media to communicate to its citizens. We argue that these communication strategies used by the government to "Spread Calm, Not Fear" seems to have had a positive effect on the Covid-19 fight in Ghana. Documenting the experiences of Ghana in the literature will greatly contribute to knowledge especially as Ghana has been one of the highlights in the management of the Covid-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the policy responses of Ghana's government with a focus on three areas: health, economic, and social. Ghana had made several policy interventions in these three areas. The study highlighted the adoption of the 3T-approach in health, CAP-20 in economics, and free water and subsidized electricity for citizens as social interventions. The study concludes that the measures undertaken by the Government of Ghana have yielded significant results even though some challenges with delivery mechanisms are identified. The available statistics as of October 25, 2020 on the COVID-19 situation in Ghana further affirm the gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has been established by Standing Order 151 (2) to exercise an oversight function over the Executive on public expenditure on behalf of Ghana's Parliament. The Committee is to review the Auditor General's report and make recommendations to prevent future occurrences. With the consistent and increasing mismanagement of public finances, the PAC has been criticised as not being effective in its role in ensuring efficient public financial management in Ghana. The study sought to understand the work of the PAC with a focus on the challenges hindering the PAC to perform its functions in ensuring efficient public financial management. Employing a qualitative research approach, the study found that the challenges of the PAC were the late submission of Audit reports, a dysfunctional follow-up regime, extreme partisanship of the members of the committee, and inadequate technical support to analyse audit reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the novel nature of the Covid-19, different researches are being carried out in various fields of which public administration is no exception. Public administration as an applied field offers more insights on how governments are responding to the pandemic. One key approach to managing the pandemic is through effective government communication. As novel as the Covid-19 situation is, how countries have utilized communication strategies to fight against this Covid-19 pandemic have also not yet been well documented in the literature. Using a qualitative document analysis approach, this paper seeks to answer two questions; what communication strategies have been used by the government of Ghana to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic? How have these communication strategies been effective in fighting against the Covid-19 pandemic in Ghana? The study identified that the government of Ghana has been using frequent Presidential addresses, Minister's Press Briefings, designated Covid-19 Website, and Social and Traditional Media to provide information to the citizens. These communication strategies have been used by the government to "Spread Calm, Not Fear" and to drive the entire population with the government in the fight against Covid-19. Documenting the experiences of Ghana in the literature will greatly contribute to knowledge especially as Ghana has been one of the highlights during the Covid-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]