CDD increases effort to promote public accountability

The Center for Democratic Development (CDD)-Ghana has upped its effort at assisting the people to demand transparency and accountability from the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs).

This involves building their capacity to effectively monitor the budget allocation to the assemblies and the spending.

Mr. Paul Osei-Kuffuor, the Project Coordinator, said it was doing this in 20 selected districts across the nation, with funding from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).

 As part of this, a three-day workshop had been held in Kumasi to train members of district education committees (DECs) set up to create awareness among the people and deepen their participation in local governance.

 They were drawn from Ashanti and the Brong-Ahafo Regions.

Mr. Osei-Kuffuor said the gap between the people and the assemblies, regarding their engagement, access to information and participation in the activities of the assemblies needed to be bridged.

He encouraged everybody to develop keen interest in the activities of the assemblies to make sure they performed and lived up to expectation.

They should follow closely the budgeting and development planning programmes of the MMDAs and cultivate positive attitudes towards the nation’s building.

The members of the DECs were taken through the framework on citizens’ engagement and consultation in the formulation and the implementation of the district medium-term development plan.

Mr. Osei-Kuffour noted that when the people became well-informed, that would strengthen transparency, participation and feedback on local government budgeting and planning systems.

Source: GNA