DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL GOVERNANCE credibility and legitimacy. As service providers for their members, they offer alternative sources of supply, as well as complementing the services provided by the public sector, thereby contributing to the alleviation of poverty. They also forge partnerships between people and governments, thus providing channels of communication and flows of information between governments and citizens. ii. Findings of the CRM 73. Civil society and the media have historically facilitated governance, sometimes by helping to resist oppressive rule and encouraging grassroots political participation. In recent years, they have worked together to challenge the legitimacy of government policies and to expand the political space in the country. There is, however, a limited presence of CSOs in rural areas. There also tends to be a duplication of CSO activities, with evidence of bureaucratisation of activities, and accountability and transparency problems in organisation and activities. iii. Recommendations 74. The Panel recommends the Ghana employ efforts to: ? ? ? Promote a better understanding between the government and the media, clarifying their respective roles in the promotion of good governance and human development. Support the training of professional investigative journalism. Advocate the promotion of democracy within the CSOs and community-based organisations to ensure accountability to stakeholders and membership. Objective 7: Fight corruption in the public sphere i. Self-assessment 75. Corruption is one of the consequences of bad governance. Pervasive and rampant corruption has distorted the economies of many African countries, as scarce resources are diverted from supporting economic growth and providing essential social services to service debt repayments accumulated by authoritarian and dictatorial regimes, corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. It is the poor who pay the high price of corruption they are denied basic social services and have no resources to pay bribes to corrupt public servants. 35