Civil Society Organizations urged to be conversant with assemblies’ laws
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have been urged to be more conversant with laws that govern district assemblies within the country.
Mr. Joseph Antwi, Head of Fiscal Decentralization, Ministry of Finance, who gave the advice on Monday added: “It is only when you are conversant with these laws that you could help improve upon the operations of these assemblies.”
He was speaking at the second Annual General Meeting of the Local Governance Network (LOGNet) under the theme: “Enhancing Decentralization through Transparency and Accountability: The role of Civil Society Organizations in the Composite Budgeting Process.”
Mr. Antwi said transparency and accountability were crucial for effective local governance system.
He also urged CSOs to endeavor to understand financial management laws, in order to effectively monitor budgetary matters at the local government level.
Mr. Antwi said whilst policies were formulated at the level of governance, CSOs were closer to the citizens, adding that this placed them in better position to determine what strengths and weaknesses lay with the implementation of these policies.
He said there was the need for CSOs to engage the assemblies all the time, in order to know their programmes.
“Once you do this, you would also know their budgetary systems, and you would be in a better position to educate the citizenry to demand accountability.”
Mr. Antwi again urged them to be open in their dealings with the assemblies when it came to the implementation of their (Civil Society Organizations) own projects, and any other matter, which required the knowledge of the District Assemblies.
“Such transparency would promote mutual trust, which would ultimately ensure progress and fruitful relations amongst you,” he said.
Ms. Adwoa Kwateng Kluvitse, Chair Person, LOGNET Steering Committee, said the success of any true decentralized system of governance, depended to a large extent on how far civil society actors went to ensure that those who bore the duty of executing government projects, did it to the satisfaction of those who were meant to benefit from those projects.
“LOGNet, an umbrella network of CSOs, has a key role to mobilize the necessary human resources to facilitate the understanding and delivery of services to citizens, by demanding transparency and accountability in governance,” she said.
LOGnet is a network of CSOs and Non Governmental Organizations, working to promote effective decentralisation and local governance, through the promotion of citizens participation in decision making and development.
Source: GNA