By: Appiah Kusi Adomako, Esq
For more than six decades, civil society organizations (CSOs) in Ghana have been largely sustained by foreign donors. From the early days of our independence struggle to the consolidation of multi-party democracy, donor funding enabled CSOs to champion human rights, good governance, environmental protection, consumer rights, and poverty reduction. Recently, a friend from a governance CSO told me that they applied for funding for advocacy work, and the response was that Ghana is not a priority country, as most of their funding is meant for countries with a troubled governance system. Since Ghana has a relatively mature democracy, many traditional donors have quietly withdrawn support for governance and advocacy work. The result is a funding squeeze that now threatens the very survival of credible CSOs and, by extension, the quality of our public discourse and policy-making process.
CSOs: The Fifth Estate of Our Republic
CSOs are the fifth estate of our republic. As the Washington Post motto goes: “democracy dies in darkness.” Through rigorous research, evidence-based advocacy, and sustained public engagement, CSOs have helped shape landmark legislation: Right to Information Act 2019, Presidential Transition Act 2012, Public Financial Management Act 2016, Public Holidays and Commemorative Days (Amendment) Act 2025, Road Traffic Amendment Act 2025, and many more. Without independent CSOs, critical voices on education quality, healthcare access, revenue leakages, and environmental degradation would be muted. Their work directly contributes to socio-economic development by holding power to account, amplifying citizen concerns, and proposing practical solutions that governments and the private sector often overlook. Whilst CSOs can sometimes be irritating on government, their role is like a “sword that heals.” Someone recently pointed out that political parties find CSOs more helpful when the parties are in opposition.
Donor Funding Squeeze on CSOs
The funding crisis is real and accelerating. Over the past decade, the pool of donor resources available to CSOs in developing countries has shrunk steadily. The 2014–2015 Syrian refugee crisis, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the escalation of tensions in the Middle East have forced Western governments to redirect billions from international development to defence and humanitarian emergencies at home. When President Donald Trump insisted that NATO allies increase defence spending, one of the first casualties was the budget line for international aid. The recent exit of USAID has removed yet another major source of support, leaving thousands of CSOs and their staff without funding. Some organizations have already closed their doors; others are scaling back operations or shifting to less controversial service-delivery work.
The Dangers of a Funding Vacuum
The danger is not only the loss of jobs and institutional memory. When credible CSOs cannot access reliable domestic funding, three things happen. First, some simply cease to exist and at best, exist only on paper. We have over 100 CSOs that have ceased to exist in the last decade. Second, others are forced to chase whatever money is available, sometimes advancing narrow political or foreign agendas. Third, a vacuum is created that can be filled by organisations that become de facto lobby groups or, worse, conduits for foreign intelligence interests. As the saying goes, he who pays the piper calls the tune. If we continue to outsource the funding of our research and advocacy agenda to external actors, matters that are central to Ghanaian livelihoods like affordable healthcare, quality education, trade and development, and consumer protection, will never remain donor priorities. When CSOs’ research weakens, decisions rely on limited data.
Government Can Fund CSOs Without Losing Independence
The good news is that the government can fund viable CSOs without compromising their independence. The STAR Ghana Foundation provides a ready-made, proven model. At its peak, STAR Ghana was supported by DFID, EU, USAID and DANIDA, yet donors exercised no direct control over which organisations received grants. Selection was based on transparent, pre-determined criteria and competitive processes. Government can replicate this approach by allocating, for example, GHC 10 million annually from the national budget to STAR Ghana (or a similar independent mechanism) to support high-quality research and advocacy in priority national areas: education reform, healthcare access, road safety, anti-corruption, climate resilience and consumer protection, competition and urban mobility.
Because these would be public funds, strict safeguards are essential. Beneficiary CSOs must comply fully with the Public Financial Management Act 2016 (Act 921) and the Public Procurement Act. All grants should be competitively awarded, publicly disclosed and subjected to annual audits by the Auditor-General. This structure insulates the government from accusations of political interference while ensuring accountability to Ghanaian taxpayers.
The Private Sector Must Step Up
Private sector support must also be mobilized. Having led CUTS International’s West Africa centre for over 13 years, I have observed that Ghanaian businesses remain largely uninterested in funding CSOs. We should revise our tax laws to introduce meaningful incentives similar to those in the United States, United Kingdom, and South Africa that allow companies and high-net-worth individuals to deduct donations to accredited CSOs from taxable income. Corporate social responsibility must be redesign to move beyond one-off projects to strategic, long-term partnerships with credible civil society.
President’s Meeting with CSOs on Monday 30th March, 2026
We have come too far in building our democratic institutions to allow civil society organizations to wither for lack of local ownership. Imagine a Ghana without CSOs like Imani, CDD-Ghana, CUTS, GNEC, COPEC, IDEG, CEMSE, LRC, GACC, the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, AGI, Kofi Kapito’s CPA, and NORSAC. As His Excellency meets with CSOs at the Jubilee House on Monday, 30th March, nothing would bring greater joy to the sector than a clear commitment from the state to provide sustainable funding for credible civil society work. Such an initiative would constitute genuine strategic nation-building. It would strengthen accountability, improve policy outcomes, and significantly reduce our vulnerability to foreign influence.
NB: The writer is an economist, a lawyer, and a public policy expert. He is the Director of the West Africa Regional Centre of CUTS International. He can be contacted via email: [email protected] or www.cuts-accra.org.
