A coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Ghana has asked government to begin broad consultation with citizens during the course of the negotiations to seek bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

The coalition in a press release said “it is our considered opinion that citizen inclusiveness in the discussions will allow the much needed citizen buy-in which had been problematic with previous bailouts so that this one becomes the last bailout ever that Ghana will seek.”

Further, the coalition noted that in the past, lack of consultation has resulted in difficulty with citizen participation.

As a result, the press release noted the formation of an ad-hoc CSO platform on the IMF bailout.

The platform, according to the press release, will:

- Initiate a National Conversation and hold a Forum to discuss and agree on common positions on the key issues by civil society to inform both GOG and IMF;

- Engage the media, academia, faith based organisations etc. to embark on a sustained campaign to educate the citizens of Ghana on the bailout.

- Endeavour to reach as many citizens as possible by deploying ICT tools and interventions to provide easy to comprehend messages through an interactive two-way SMS system, use of social media to encourage vibrant citizens’ discussion around the subject matter and an online platform to serve as one-stop-shop knowledge and resource center and a platform for citizen based advocacy.

- Agree on mechanisms to monitor the implementation of the final agreement that comes out of the negotiations.

Ultimately, the platform seeks to promote public awareness and inclusiveness in the bailout discussions and to arrive at common positions on the key issues for the benefit of both GOG and IMF.

The initiators (listed below) of this ad-hoc Platform to start the National Conversation extend open invitation to all CSOs, NGOs, Professional groups, Academia, Trade Unions, Faith based organisations as well as all interested identifiable bodies who believe in citizen inclusiveness in major national issues to join the platform.