The Deputy Minister for Local Government And Rural Development Hon. Nii Lantey Vanderpuye has urged Journalists to endeavour to use their media platforms to sensitize the citizenry and civil societies in order to engage in decision and budgeting process in the country.
This he said their participation in decision making at both the national and local levels will enhance good governance. The Sector Minister made the call at the launching ceremony of Media Campaign in Accra, with the aim of promoting citizens participation in District and National budget process in the country.
He noted that over the years reforms programs have been introduced to enhance public sector efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability. According to him, in spite of these reforms, citizens participation at the local level remains week.
“In a recent survey by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development [MLGRD] of citizens perception of local government performance in 23 MMAs , 98 percent of the 3678 respondents indicated they had never participated in any budget process of the MMA where they live ” he said.
This he said , the survey was conducted under the Local Government Capacity Support Project [LGCSP], which is being implemented to promote and strengthen fiscal decentralization as well as local government accountability mechanisms in 46 MMAs in the country. Adding that , the move was to ensure that the Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies are held accountable by the citizens and national government.
More so , he explained that the third component of the project was designed to promote Social Accountability in Local Government Process. The social Accountability initiative seek to stimulate demand for accountable local governance and to improve service delivery.
According to him, since 2013 , the project has supported a number of MMAs to actively engage citizens in financial management issues of the Assembly through the Social Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability [SPEFA] process, Town Hall Meetings and Media Network initiative.
He said the Social Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability [SPEFA] forum brought together representatives of identified citizens groups in the municipality to increase their understanding of local government financial management issues and also enhance their engagement skills.
” These platforms have made it possible for over 3,000 ordinary citizens to engage directly with districtofficials on budget and development issues” he hinted.
This he said , as a strategy to increase the public education and information sharing efforts of the projects and to meet government’s aspirations on social accountability and citizen engagement , the ministry has established the media network to compliment the Social Public and Financial Accountability [ SPEFA] process . He said the initiative has enhanced information sharing between local governments and citizens especially in the 46MMAs involved in the project.
Source: Story: Isaac Kofi Dzokpo
