The citizenry has been urged to develop interest in government projects in communities.
Assembly members and unit committee members particularly have been charged to own such projects and ensure that the country was not shortchanged.
Dr. Yakubu Zakaria, a Public Policy and Advocacy Specialist, said this at a day’s training for Unit Committee and Assembly members on improving Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies’ management of capital development projects.
The training was under the USAID funded Ghana’s Strengthening Accountability Mechanisms (GSAM) Project run by OXFAM, CARE and ISODEC.
The participants were trained on how to advocate, monitor and influence policies of decision makers to bring about positive change in their communities.
Dr Zakaria asked the participants to use the various levels of advocacy to engage and hold their leaders accountable.
“You have to use the participatory means of engagement to solicit views of the members of your community and then advocate for them.
With this, you can monitor and improve performance of the MMDAs,” he said.
GSAM is a five-year social accountability project that seeks to strengthen citizens’ oversight of capital projects to improve local government transparency, accountability, and performance in 100 districts of Ghana.
Dr Zakaria asked the participants to serve as a watch dog over what went into administering of projects because that was the only way they could prevent their leaders from “sleeping on the job.”
Some participants told the Ghana News Agency they would form groups and train other social groups on the need to hold their leaders accountable.
