A recent headline claiming Ghana's position as the fifth-best governed country in Africa has sparked a heated debate among social media users and analysts, with questions raised about the authenticity and transparency of the ranking.

The discussion was ignited by Bright Simons, Vice President of IMANI Africa, who expressed scepticism after being tagged in a LinkedIn post referencing the “World Economic Governance Index.” Simons admitted to being unable to locate the purported index or report, despite his familiarity with various global indices.

Responding to Simons' query, user Sena Quashie suggested that the reference might have been to the World Bank's World Governance Indicators (WGI), but acknowledged that the WGI only covers data up to 2022.

Simons countered this suggestion, noting that while he was familiar with the WGI, it did not provide a straightforward ranking and was not intended for composite ordinal rankings.

Further investigation by Sena Quashie led to the discovery of a report by the World Economics Governance Index, referenced in an article published on 3News. According to this report, Ghana ranked fifth among Africa's best-governed countries, trailing behind Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, and Botswana.

However, despite the ranking's publication, concerns were raised about the lack of access to the full report or methodology behind the index. Simons highlighted this issue, noting the absence of an accompanying report or methodology to substantiate the ranking.

Coffie. J, another user in the discussion, expressed frustration after an unsuccessful search for the report, emphasizing the importance of transparency and accountability in such rankings.