A report published by the West Africa Civil Society Institute state that many civil society organisations in lack governance structures and systems to support effective leadership transitions.

Evidence indicates that a few organisations have plans in place to help manage leadership transition processes, leading to situations where organisations have been left in turmoil when founding executive directors leave.

The research report, published with support from the Ford Foundation, is an analysis of the governance structures and leadership transitions in select CSOs in Ghana. It is based on evidence from fieldwork carried out in Ghana involving 15 research participants; ten of whom have been leaders of civil society organisations or currently serve as executive directors

Only one of the 15 CSOs studied by the WACSI Research Fellowship on Leadership and Governance had a succession plan, while 60 per cent of the sample’s executive directors and founders had a limited understanding of governance, tending to confuse it with management and most boards were not proactive about dealing with the challenges posed by leadership transition.

The research also analysed the implications of succession planning for CSOs’ sustainability and proffers measures for strengthening governance and healthy leadership transitions

Download and read the full report here.