The Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), in collaboration with the Local Government Ministry, is implementing a social auditing programme for District Assemblies to deepen popular participation and good governance at the local level.
The project is under the National Decentralisation Action Plan and the National Popular Participation Framework.
“As part of this collaboration, CDD-Ghana has facilitated the establishment and training of Social Audit Committees (SACs) in 20 districts across the country,” a statement from CDD-Ghana said.
According to the statement, the selected districts are beneficiaries of a social accountability project commenced by CDD-Ghana in 2015 with funding from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa.
The training and deployment of the Social Audit Committees is to empower citizens by ensuring their direct involvement in development programmes at the local level.
It was also to enable citizens collaborate with Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) for monitoring and auditing of key MMDAs’ projects such as Urban Development Grant funded Social Investment Projects, and processes such as planning and budgeting.
This, according to CDD-Ghana, is to enable
trainees provide information to their respective citizen groups to inform
strategies for engaging MMDAs to promote better service delivery.
Among participants at the training, held at the district level, were key staff of the District Assemblies such as: Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives, District Coordinating Directors, Planning and Budget Officers, District Directors of the National Commission on Civic Education and Information Service Departments, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs)/Media, Persons With Disabilities and Presiding Members of the various MMDAs.
The SACs comprised five people nominated based on the guidelines of the MLGRD for the composition of the committee. This include two local residents from the MMDAs; one District Social Accountability Focal Person appointed by the District Assemblies and two CSO representatives operating within the Districts.
The training focussed on the reforms on participatory local governance under the New Local Government Act, Act 936 and the National Popular Participation Framework, and guidelines and concepts on the composition and operationalisation of Social Audit Committees by MMDAs in Ghana.
In addition
to the SACs, CDD-Ghana has been championing the implementation of the NPPF, which
provides mandatory activities for popular participation.
To that end, CDD-Ghana has over the years supported MMDAs to implement public education on the laws and regulations on local governance, town hall meetings and budget forums, interactive radio discussions, open days among other things to enhance transparency, popular participation and accountability in policy formulation and service delivery programmes.
Source: Ghana|Adom FM|Samuel Dowuona