Media

MEDIA practitioners question the competence and integrity of all public office holders without being accountable to anybody. The media have become so powerful in recent times that some commentators conclude that the freedom of press and of expression guaranteed by the Constitution has led to the tyranny of the media.
It is generally agreed that a free press is the tool of public criticism. It holds public officials accountable, opening them up to the judgement of people who can decide whether the government is doing good or whether it has anything to hide.
Article 162 Clause 5 of the Constitution states that “All agencies of the mass media shall, at all times, be free to uphold the principles, provisions and objectives of this Constitution and shall uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people of Ghana.”
The activities of the media have come under scrutiny since the December 7, 2008 general election for very obvious reasons. The media play a very critical role in setting the agenda.
Given that by the nature of journalism profession, journalists are entrusted with empowering the citizenry to make informed decisions, it is imperative that they relentlessly pursue fairness and truth in their reportage.
Shortly after the elections, certain media houses pitted brother against sister just on account that they belonged to different political persuasions. Indeed, during that time keen observers of the media scene had cause to worry about the blatant abuse of the code of ethics of journalism.
This provision imposes a heavy responsibility on all journalists to act as watchdogs of the actions of public officials.
The media of Ghana is one of the most free in Africa, and had previously undergone a series of government overthrows by military leaders and periods of severe restriction.
Chapter 12 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana guarentees freedom of the press and independence of the media, while Chapter 2 prohibts censorship. Post independence, the government and media often had a tense relationship, with private outlets closed during the military coups and strict media laws that prevent criticism of government.
The media freedoms were restored in 1992, and after the election in 2000 of John Kufuor the tensions between the private media and government decreased. Kufuor was a supporter of press freedom and repealed a libel law, though maintained that the media had to act responsibily. The Ghanian media has been described as "one of the most unfettered" in Africa, operating with little restriction on private media. The private press often carries criticism of government policy. The media were vigourous in their coverage of the 2008 Ghanian presidential election, and the Ghanian Journalists Association (GJA) praised John Atta Mills on his election, hoping to foster a good media-government relationship.
Unfortunately, sometimes some media practitioners abuse this responsibility imposed on them by the Constitution and engage in acts that are not protected by the laws of the land.
To recall again Mr Cofie’s admonition to the media when he asked, “Is it not painful that the great job some of you sought to do during the general election was marred by the bizarre distortion of facts, broadcast of false information and the undue fuelling of passions by others?”
Other professionals have questioned the moral authority of media practitioners to hold public office holders accountable when such values and principles are missing in the discharge of duty by certain journalists, even including trained ones.
There is still believes in the power of the media to help the people to make informed decisions through independent political agenda setting.
The time has come for the media, particularly its professional body, the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), to intensify continuing education of its members and those who do not belong to the association to compel them to respect the ethics, values and principles of the profession.
Great men like Thomas Jefferson had so much faith in the media because of their power to change society for the better. That was why, confronted with his preference for government or media, he declared, “The basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”
There is a call on all media practitioners to resolve to respect their code of ethics and other best practices in order to continue to earn the respect of the public to inform them.
A democratic and free society is dependent on the ability of the media to inform, educate and entertain. But if we allow public resentment for the media to mount because we have become “Jacks of all trades but masters of none”, interest groups from politics, the business community and the clergy will gang up to curtail media freedoms.
Let us, therefore, demonstrate to the people we serve that we shall exercise the freedom guaranteed in the Constitution with responsibility.
We should bear in mind that no society makes progress in a state of nature. The press will continue to provide a forum for public debate and public scrutiny of government if journalists respect the cardinal principles of fairness, accuracy and balance in their reportage.
The need for journalists to live up to their role as neutral referees was crucial and a precondition for successful polls.
So important is the media’s role that their task of educating the electorates to help them to make wise political decisions and not to prejudge the issues.
The call to practitioners of the noble profession, which has become known as the Fourth Estate of the Realm in the country.
Rightly so, journalists have a crucial role in shaping opinions and empowering the voting public with information with which to make informed decisions.
The fourth President of the United States, James Madison, an ardent promoter of free press and free society, once noted that “knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives”.
The freedom that has been accorded the media needs to be used responsibly, as there is no absolute freedom. Everybody in society identifies with the media in one way or another and anything the media churns out is likely to make an impact, either negatively or positively, on different segments of society.
It is for this reason that the state endorses the call on the media to play a leading and responsible role in the run up, during and after the December polls.
There is no better time than now for the media to show their readiness to promote peace, reconciliation and development and there is yet no better journalism than development journalism in which even the bleakest incidents, events and behaviours are looked at and shaped from a development perspective.
This will mean that every act of the media will be guided by the overriding interest of promoting the cause of the larger society, a fair balance of exercising responsibility in freedom.
It is only proper for the media to aspire to promote national peace and stability through the use of temperate and refined language.
It is commended that the GJA use the awards ceremony for journalists as the platform to drum support for efforts by other organisations to sensitise the electorate to the need for free and fair polls.
With a few weeks to the highly anticipated polls on December 7, Ghanaians were encouraged to play their roles as responsible citizens and in this national assignment the media cannot afford to distort the peace with irresponsible reportage.
I believe members of the media fraternity joined the peace-loving Ghanaians to work towards successful elections that established Ghana as a model democratic state in Africa.
The Fourth Republic has already witnessed four elections and the Electoral Commission (EC) has played a key role in making those elections successful.
The commission has demonstrated that it has the character and professionalism to appropriately deal with the competing demands from the various political parties.
Even on occasions when it has been unfairly condemned and criticised, it has refused to crumble under pressure.
As the nation drew closer to the December polls, political campaigns got heated and politicians made last minute efforts to woo voters and improve their chances of winning the elections.
In the heat of these campaigns, some politicians made utterances that tend to question the integrity and fairness of the EC, even when such accusations were baseless and could not be substantiated. It is becoming quite evident that the EC is sometimes unfairly drawn into the politics of the day.
Thus any attempt to characterise the EC as a politically bias entity could serve as a potent distraction to the conduct of free and fair elections.
That is why politicians are called upon to guard their utterances and ensure that they avoid casting the media in a bad light and, thereby, erode the confidence of the electorate in it.
Interestingly, some politicians who are always quick to chastise the media are actually the very people who have been implicated in one shameful electoral malpractice or another.
As has been duly acknowledged by all the political parties, the conduct of free and fair elections is not the responsibility of only the media but also all Ghanaians, including political parties, the judiciary, the media, the security agencies and the electorate.
It is, therefore, hoped that this recognition will find greater practical expression and save the media from any further unfair bashing.
The confidence of the people can only be sustained if the media refuse to bow to any pressure from any quarter and rather rededicates itself to the ideals required for free and fair elections.
And, with the rest of the world closely watching us, Ghana, as a peace-loving country, have demonstrated that we are not only determined to consolidate the gains made so far on our democratic journey, but also committed to maintaining our position as a shining example on the continent.
We have confirmed Ghana as a democratic country, which is offering hope to the continent and our conduct yesterday was a positive way of trying to redeem Africa’s image.
Indeed, apart from isolated cases of misunderstandings and physical aggression, there is a lot to commend ourselves for and it will not be in the least misplaced to remark that this is one of the best elections in the country since 1992.
All over the country it was evident that Ghanaians are more than ever enthralled by multi-party democracy which offers the opportunity for the conduct of periodic elections to select those who will represent the best path towards the future.
The Electoral Commission (EC), security agencies, various political parties and candidates, the media, civil society organisations and the electorate all need to be commended for their role in ensuring peaceful and orderly polls.
The massive turnout devoid of the pre-election tension teaches one lesson that through collaborative efforts, we can find solutions to the challenges that confront us.
Electorate are reminded of the challenges of the post-election thrills and disappointment after the declaration of validated results. If these difficulties are not properly managed, our celebrations can be short-lived as the trouble makers can create doubts in the minds of the people about the credibility of the polls.
However, it is believed that the transparent nature of the polls would be a deterrent to anyone who may choose the path of violence to address whatever concerns that may emerge.
A government of the people, by the people and for the people should in essence harness whatever potential is available irrespective of the political affiliation of the individual who has demonstrated ample competence and has requisite qualification for the task ahead.
The use of a tribal card in an election or nation-building can pose a threat to national unity and civility and be inimical to progress. Again, such an approach can engender divide-and-rule tactics and discrimination and feed into the psyche of the electorate the dangerous mindset of “us and them”, the media has a responsibility to set the agenda to eschew such occurences.
The Ghanaian media performed creditably in the last elections and hope that the practitioners will continue to play their gate-keeping role to prevent any situation where they can be used as agents of ethnic politics by politicians.
Elections are not a life-and-death issue. Rather, they are a democratic process of taking a decision and exercising one’s preferences for the ideas and programmes presented by a candidate and a party through the ballot box.
The political parties should continue to be modest in their electioneering and refrain from the use of abusive and intemperate language which can inflame passions. Again, it is expectated that the electorate, the Electoral Commission and the security personnel will once again rise up to the task and live up to the expectation of organising a transparent peaceful election in the future.
We should not do anything to mar the beauty of our development process by playing the ethnic card which can sow seeds of discord and disunity and prepare the grounds for confusion, social upheavals and violence.
We are now on the plateau of giving further impetus to our development and nature has been kind to us to bestow on us resources such as oil to leap-frog our socio-economic transformation.
There can be ownership of and participation in the decision-making process only if the people know their rights and responsibilities in order to hold the government accountable. Indeed, Article 11 of the Constitution states categorically that "The Sovereignty of Ghana resides in the people of Ghana in whose name and for whose welfare the powers of government are to be exercised in the manner and within the limits laid down in the Constitution."
The struggle over who gets what, when and how is largely carried out in the mass media. Reporters and news editors usually deny that they are powerful political actors, claiming they only mirror society; but the "myth of the mirror" is that the media do play key roles in setting the political agenda by determining what news is to be covered, how much, and in what context.
Agenda Setting: This is the real power of the media. The media do not just passively report the news. They select what is to be covered, thereby setting a political agenda. Conversely, media inattention can allow governments to continue ineffective policies or worse. The media can even propel a latent issue into a "crisis" with which government must deal.
The media have effects in setting the political agenda and in helping form new opinions, but they are less effective in changing existing opinions or in changing political behavior.
"Information overload" also diminishes the effects of the media, as does the relative disinterest of many Ghanaians in the political news. Moreover, the public exercises selective perception, mentally screening out information and opinions with which they disagree. The result of the media performing their self-declared watchdog role can be alienation rather than reform.
Diverging political agenda-setting studies concerning the mass media’s impact on society are as old as the media themselves.
Opposing views and conflicting research results have led to different conclusions ranging from minimal-effects to powerful mass media. During the last three decades the notion of agenda-setting has probably provided the most influential and fertile paradigm in media and communications research. The mass media determine the political agenda to boost political attention for issues.
The field of media and political agenda-setting is disparate and undertheorized.
As media and political agenda-setting studies are slowly increasing and the subfield is growing to maturity, such an integrative effort comes timely. Only by confronting, comparing and systematizing the available evidence generated by previous studies can we make inroads in understanding the media’s political agenda-setting power.
Political agenda-setting implies a time gap between issue coverage and issue adoption by political parties.
Both election and non-election periods times are fundamentally different and that behaviour of political actors, and their reaction on media coverage, follows different logics in both periods.
Depending on the political system, the nature of the media agenda, the specific issues, the methodology, the nature of the political agenda, and the period under study, the results of similar studies can vary extensively.
It is obvious, however, that there are crucial differences between public and political agenda-setting.
As a rule government’s political agenda is less flexible, more cemented by previous arrangements and meticulously balanced agreements. Especially when it comes to coalition governments built on a lengthy government agreement, governments’ substantial policy actions are immunized against media impact. Pressures to react and to show leadership especially regarding to crisis situations or negative news might, in contrast, lead government to react swiftly and symbolically. Its better media access guarantees that even minister’s verbal reactions void of any serious consequence can pass the media gates and become news. More or less the opposite applies to parliament. Parliament, however, is an ambivalent institution with majority and minority initiatives mixed. The legislative part of parliaments’ activities, especially the actual passing of new bills, goes probably through even lengthier checked and balanced procedures than governments actions do. But the daily surveillance and monitoring of government is more flexible and, hence, prone to media impact. Procedures are relatively short, and (opposition) MPs are free to raise whichever topic they want. In terms of strong presidential systems, we expect an even more media responsive presidential agenda than for parliaments. Presidential initiatives are normally less constrained by institutional rules - he/she can communicate about anything anytime - nor are presidents bound by their party, by a government agreement or by internal decision making procedures. Moreover, presidents are expected to react on tidings of misfortune, to show leadership and to reassure the nation that they are in charge. Their media access is almost unlimited since they personify the state’s power. In many presidential regimes the president is a generalist policy maker whose competences encompass all policy domains. So we expect presidents to be especially susceptible for media coverage and the presidential agenda to be continuously affected by news’ issue attention. The more presidential systems entrust the president with a lot of powers and the less it contains veto players, the easier and faster a president can induce policy changes. The more powerful the president, hence, the more his instant reactions on media coverage might result in real policy outcomes.
Subject to Article 167 of the 1992 constitution, the National Media Commission (NMC) shall not exercise any control or direction over the professional functions of a person engaged in the production of newspapers or other means of communication.
All state-owned media shall afford fair opportunities and facilities for the presentation of divergent views and dissenting oppinions.

Marshallans Donation

FRIENDS of the Knights and Ladies of Marshall of the Adabraka Holy Spirit Cathedral have donated assorted items to the female ward of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital.
The items, worth GH¢2,000, included bed spreads, aluminium cooking utensils, disinfectants, bags of rice and toilet rolls.
The Noble Lady of Court 67, Sister Caroline Akakpo, who presented the items on behalf of the group, said the donation formed part of the association’s social responsibility.
She said the items were to supplement the needs of the ward and that the gesture was also part of its widow’s mite towards meeting the needs of the inmates.
The Senior Nursing Officer of the unit, Ms Edith Bonney, who received the items on behalf of the hospital, thanked the association for the gesture, which she said would go a long way to address the needs of the inmates of the hospital.
She asked members of the association to continue to support the hospital in order to improve upon the living standards of the less fortunate in society.
In a related development, the association organised mass for 15 sick and aged people of the church.
The Deputy Noble Lady, Mrs Elizabeth Bulley, told the Daily Graphic that the service was held yearly for people who could not leave their home to socialise with them and also present them with some awards.
According to her, the Ladies of Marshall visited the aged and the sick at home twice a year, that is, in March and December, to offer them charity.

Barclays Partnership

BARCLAYS Bank has entered into a $150,000 partnership agreement with the Junior Achievement of Ghana to harness entrepreneurship skills for young adults in the country.
Consequently, the agreement was initiated to help disadvantaged young adults to work towards financial independence and security as well as supporting access to education.
Speaking at the official launch of the Barclays/Junior Achievement Partnership in Accra, the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, said the government had initiated a number of interventions to resolve some of the challenges that confront the educational system.
He said, the youth should be made agents of change in local communities to ensure efficiency in the education sector, promote job opportunities and improve growth in the country.
Mr Tettey-Enyo urged Barclays and other corporate bodies to continue to support efforts aimed at developing the educational system in Ghana.
He urged students to take advantage of the training programme to upgrade their skills to get them ready for the job market.
The Minister expressed his appreciation to Barclays Bank for their financial support and partnership with Junior Achievement to enable the programme become a reality.
The Executive Director of Junior Achievement of Ghana, Mr Jefferson Worlanyo Agbai, said, the group was to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in the global economy.
He said, for the past 90 years, Junior Achievement had helped young people by showing them how to generate wealth and manage it and also apply entrepreneurial thinking at the workplace.
Mr Agbai said Junior Achievement had imparted business and economic values to over 3,000 students and the programme sought to reach at least one per cent of the 4.5 million young people by 2013.
He noted that, the initiative would have a positive and profound impact on students’ ability to succeed on the job market.
The Managing Director of Barclays Bank, Mr Benjamin Dabrah noted that the grant would help to bring out the untapped talents of over 80,000 young people whom he said, were future employees and customers of the bank.
We are happy to be working with Junior Achievement, an organisation with a track record and experience to provide what young people need to realise their full potentials, Mr Dabrah stated.
For his part, the American Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Donald Teitelbaum was optimistic that, many young professionals would be great achievers in future.

UCDAG Demonstration

USED Car Dealers Association of Ghana (UCDAG) has organised a demonstration to petition to the government to resettle them to enable the construction of the George Walker Bush Motorway.
Consequently, the demonstration came as a result of information they heard from Peace FM, a private radio station in Accra and publication by the Daily Graphic on March 17, 2009 to vacate the road by Friday, March 20, 2009 to enable the contractor to start construction works.
Some members of the association, told the Daily Graphic that, there was no official letter to that effect and also, the notice came at short intervals with five days ultimatum given them.
The demonstration according to them was not being politicised, but rather they wanted their rights to be respected as citizens of the country.
They said, compensation was agreed to be paid to members, and that, but as at now about 80% of them have not been paid.
“We create employment for about 3,000 people in the country, as well as contribute to about the highest revenue to the government”, they said.
They added that if nothing was done about their petition, they would continue to resist and were even prepared to go court.
Some members of the association noted with concern that, the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) had connived with the Ghana Armed Forces to deploy about 1,000 men to collect all cars from their premises if they refused to move.
According the Chairman of the association, Mr Peter Yeboah, they heard the information from the radio station that, the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) together with the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) issued the final warning that all those Car Dealers in and around the Corridors of the proposed site for the construction of the George Walker Bush Motorway should vacate their garages or else they would be forced to move after the deadline.
Mr Yeboah said, MiDA promised to compensate and relocate them of which they spent over 200 million to design the site plan but later, they were disappointed since they could not get a sizeable land in Accra for them.
For his part, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the association, Rev Solomon Francis Okrah, said, we are aware of the importance for the construction of the motorway but, what will be the effect of not relocating our members, some can be armed robbers, phone snatches and the likes.
They however, petitioned to the government, Ministry of Lands and Forestry, MiDA, and the America government to resettle them to a suitable place, in the interest of on peace.

Child right

THE Children’s Rights International (CRI), a non-governmental organisation, has launched the 2009 Easter School for Children in Accra.
The annual event, which started nine years ago, was instituted by the CRI and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), to inculcate in the children a sense of responsibility to participate effectively in issues affecting them.
The theme for this year’s Easter school is: “Growing child participation through service learning”, and it is aimed at involving children in discussing national issues.
The Executive Director of CRI, Mr Bright Appiah, said the Easter school was a medium to promote child participation in the country and also involve them in issues that affect them.
Mr Appiah said: “Child participation ensures and enhances expression of opinion, self-confidence, self-involvement and provides understanding for children to better appreciate issues that affect them,”.
He noted that the Easter school, since its inception in 2000, had provided the platform for children to discuss and share issues.
He expressed optimism that at the end of this year’s school, the Ghanaian child would be factored into the broader decision-making process.
The acting Director at the Children’s Department of the Ministry for Women and Children’s Affairs, Mr Peter Eduful, who delivered the speech on behalf of the minister, Ms Akua Sena Dansua, said the biggest challenge to society was how to raise children and prepare them adequately to take up adult roles and responsibilities and also contribute effectively to future national development.
She said children continued to suffer various forms of discrimination and deprivation including their inability to express their minds freely and participate fully in matters which affected them in the family and society.
She said: “Participation is one of the guiding principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Ghana proudly signed as the first UN nation in 1991.”
She urged children to take their education seriously and also abstain from negative practices such as drinking, patronising pornography, premarital sex and using narcotic drugs.
Speaking on behalf of the acting Inspector of Police (IGP), Mrs Elizabeth Mills- Robertson, the Director of Community Policing, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Florence Arthur, said policemen who violated the rights and freedom of children should be arrested and prosecuted.
She also said children should report any form of violence against them for the necessary action to be taken.
For his part, the Programme Support Manager of Plan Ghana, Mr William Agyekum Acquah, said the unit would support children to be key actors in their own development.
Mr Acquah reiterated that resources should be used to harness the development of the Ghanaian child.
Ghana ratified the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the child. This Convention has a fundamental principle and an internationally agreed framework necessary for ensuring minimum standards for the well-being of the child and to which every child is entitled.
The CRI was registered in 1997 as a non-governmental organisation committed to the principles enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana
The CRI also helps in building the capacity of students to be able to effectively participate in the discussion of issues that bother on the promotion and protection of the rights and welfare of children.
This year’s programme is scheduled to take place in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region from April 18 to 23, 2009.

Mills Robertson

SINCE assuming office early this year as the first policewoman to act as Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mrs Elizabeth Mills-Robertson has made known her commitment to wage a relentless war on criminal activities throughout the country.
In furtherance of her pledge, the police undertook an operation to flush out criminals in some parts of Accra soon after she assumed office while she announced her long term commitment to offer maximum security for the nation and sustain the fight against crime, particularly armed robbery.
Assuming office at a time when crime is said to have become very sophisticated, Mrs Mills-Robertson faces a Herculean task but she is counting on the maximum support of officers and men of the service and the cordial relationship between the police and the general public to succeed.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview after she was awarded with an Executive Master of Business Administration (Human Resource Management) degree at the 2007/2008 congregation of the University of Ghana, Legon, on Saturday, Mrs Mills-Robertson, re-emphasise her commitment to develop a more cordial working relationship between the police and the public.
She said that was necessary to erode the negative perception of the public about the police and give the police service a positive image to enhance crime detection and prevention.
The acting IGP, who is the first female police head since policing was introduced in the country in the 1800s, is a product of Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast and the University of Ghana, and a Barrister at Law from the Ghana School of Law.
She stated that more police personnel would be deployed to patrol the principal streets of Accra and other business districts in the Accra metropolis as well as other municipalities and districts.
She said her administration would address some of the challenges confronting the police, and mentioned that the issue of accommodation, which affected the efficient operation of some service personnel, would be addressed, stressing that accommodation for service men and women would be improved.
Mrs Mills-Robertson said challenges confronting her were similar to those encountered by women in other key positions, and called for maximum support from officers and men of the service to enhance efficiency.
The acting IGP promised to inspire other female police officers to rise to the top and advised them not to rest on their laurels.

Transparency

THE 2007 budget was not transparent, an Open Budget Survey and Index for 2008 has revealed.
This was because the government did not produce and disseminate four of the eight key budget documents required by international good practices.
The eight key budget documents included the Executive’s budget proposal, Enacted budget, Citizens budget and In-year report on execution which were made available and transparent and the Pre-budget statement, Mid-year review, Year-end report and Auditor’s report which were not made transparent and publicly available.
The survey which was conducted in 85 countries and aimed at ensuring budget transparency, was a collaboration between International Budget Partnership (IBP) and Civil Society Experts in which seven African countries participated.
The Budget Analyst of the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), Mr Nicholas Adamtey stressed the need for budget documents to be made available to the general public without hindrances.
He suggested that the budget should be made available to the public within a period of two to three months for thorough review and analyses before it is presented to parliament.
This he said, would ensure transparency and accountability for the effective use of public resources, as well as help the citizens of the country make informed decisions about the budget statement.
Mr Adamtey said the survey was not to measure corruption but to measure budget transparency and accountability.
He however added that, lack of transparency created opportunity for corruption and wasteful spending.
The survey stated that, the government of Ghana provided the public with about 49 per cent information on its budget and financial activities during the course of the budget year.
It stated that the budget proposal provided substantial information to the public which meant that citizens had a fairly comprehensive idea of governments plans for taxes and expenditure.
However it stated that, it was difficult to track spending, revenue collection and borrowing during the year, adding that, assessing the budget performance in Ghana was difficult once the budget year was over.
It indicated that a year-end report which was not published, prevented comparisons between what was budgeted and what was actually spent and collected at the end of the year.
“These make it difficult for citizens to hold the government accountable for its management of the public’s money”, the survey stated.
It therefore stated that citizen participation should go beyond improving access to key budget documents and also involve organisations and individuals to participate in budget debates.