Abstract:
To ensure its democratic governance, Ghana has established the
Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) in
particular to promote and protect human rights and freedoms and administrative
justice. There is not enough comprehensive literature from studies on the effect
of a national human rights institution like the CHRAJ on the development of a
culture of human rights and its impact on promotion of good governance.
Non-interventional and descriptive study design was employed. The
study used both primary and secondary data. Specifically, survey was conducted
for the respondents. The respondents comprise persons who had filed complaints
in the offices of the CHRAJ in Accra and Cape Coast and persons who had not
directly used the services of the CHRAJ. Simple random sampling method was
adopted in selecting 80 respondents. The primary data was analysed using SPSS
whilst content analysis was employed in analysing the secondary data.
The study found that national establishments like the CHRAJ are
necessary for attaining good governance in spite of the existence of other
governance institutions like the judiciary and commissions for protection of the
media and the electoral process, among others.
It is recommended that the CHRAJ should be adequately resourced by
the State. The CHRAJ should enhance public awareness of requirements for its
proper functioning as valuable information for policy makers as well as civil
society to guarantee its credibility for promoting good governance.
