Sekondi, Nov. 24, GNA - Mr Lary Bimi, Chairman of the National Commission For Civic Education (NCCE), has said democracy was about quality citizenship and not about elections.

He said this in an address read for him at the opening of a three-day workshop on Project Citizen Ghana, a project of the commission, at Sekondi.

The workshop, organised by the NCCE and sponsored by the Hanns Seidel Foundation, is to train selected social studies teachers, patrons of civic education clubs and NCCE staff to implement Project Citizen in the Western Region.

Mr Bimi said although elections are very important in democracy, they are not the ultimate.

He said people have to become the centerpiece of democracy and their own governance at all levels. "Democracy is about citizenship that inspires the citizen to be patriotic. It is about a society that sacrifices personal gains for national interest, benefit and development. Democracy is about freedom with responsibility".

Mr Bimi said the project was a portfolio based civic education programme for students and youth groups to promote competent and responsible and responsible participation in local and national government. He said the programme would help young people learn how to monitor and influence public policy and in the process, develop support for democratic values and principles, tolerance, respect, respect for the rule of law and good citizenship.

Mr Bimi said the project is administered by the NCCE and Civitas Ghana in cooperation with the Center for Civic Education of the United States. He said it was piloted in 20 junior and senior high schools in the Greater Accra and Northern regions in 2006 with a total of 574 students and pupils participating in it.

Mr Bimi said the Central, Eastern and Upper East regions were brought on board this year.

He said a total of 63 schools and over one thousand students and pupils are participating in the country Mr Bimi said 16 schools in the Western Region are participating in the project.

Mr Kwaku Baa Owusu, Western Regional Director of NCCE, said the youth and students must have the courage to question all wrongs and aberrations of the country's social arrangement. He said to do this they must have the requisite knowledge and skills that would give them the empowerment to strengthen their personal as well as the collective sovereignty of the nation. Miss Katharina Patzelt, assistant representative of Hanns Seidel Foundation, said democracy could be strengthened through civic education and the foundation was working with the NCCE and other local partners to achieve this.