The Atiwa East Office of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has organized a public forum for Ahankrasu community to empower community members to hold duty bearers accountable in their local developmental agenda implementation.
The exercise was also to assess the needs of the communities and prioritize them in order for the assembly to construct an effective local development plan.
Speaking on the sidelines of the programme, the District Director of the NCCE, Mr Saviour Ametefe said the exercise was an opportunity for the district to address developmental shortfalls that had been pressing for a long time and which had not caught the attention of local authorities.
He observed that the NCCE was pushing for effective citizen participation in governance because his outfit had been frequenting the grass roots to get citizens involved, and that social auditing would make community members more involved in Community development.
He said the major issue of concern to the community which the social auditing progamme sought to address was the completion, furnishing, commissioning and operation of the CHPS compound for the community which has been under construction for some time now.
In order of importance, the community members also considered school infrastructure, provision of Road Mapping, provision of Public Toilet, Protection from illigal mining as some the major developmental concerns for the area.
He said, in fulfillment of Article 240 (e) of the 1992 constitution, the NCCE has taken Social Auditing as one of its flagship programmes under the Accountability, Rule of Law and Anti-corruption (ARAP) programme.
As citizens, Mr Ametefe added that it was important to reflect upon issues that affect the development of our nation and adopt the appropriate measures to address them.
”This calls for our Participation in the governance process and also promote Transparency and Accountability in Ghana”, he noted.
He said social auditing affords citizens the opportunity to assess the performance of Duty Bearers in terms of economy, social infrastructure, health, education, jobs amongst others and their efficiency and effectiveness.
He said this enables elected and appointed officials at all levels to render account for their stewardship and be more sensitive, responsive and performance oriented.
Mr Ametefe said the program seeks to promotes Social, economic, political and cultural development within a relatively peaceful and stable environment.
According to him, the vigilance and active involvement of the people in the governance process will ensure effective and efficient use of the Assemblies resources.
He said it was important to note that our demand for developmental projects in our communities depends to a large extent on the fulfillment of our tax obligations in the form of taxes, rates, fees and licenses to the Assembly. We all have to be faithful to God and our country in paying our taxes.
The Atiwa East Director of Health, Mrs. Efua Afful said that she was committed to ensuring that the project is completed to support health delivery in the district. She promised the community that health workers were going to be posted to the facility after its completion. She admonished the community to support the project in any way they can.
Kwabena Panin Nkansah, the Atiwa East District Chief Executive (DCE) also took the opportunity to render account of his stewardship to the people as a key component of every social auditing engagement.
He enumerated hundreds of projects, programs and policies undertaken by the Assembly over the past three and a half years in the field of education, health, employment, agriculture, social infrastructure, economy and social services.
In terms of health which was the focal point for the program he mentioned the reroofing of the Enyiresi Hospital, construction of bungalows for doctors and the provision of incubator. Also the construction of CHPS compounds at Ankaase, Mampong, Ahankrasu and Tiawiah and an Ultramodern maternity Ward and a laboratory for the Anyinam Health center were some of the projects carried out by the assembly.
He said the assembly had also begun construction of a new health center at New Jejeti to serve the health needs of the people.
Nana Larwer, the Odikro of Ahankrasu expressed gratitude to the assembly and the government for the massive support the community received over the past three years.
He thanked the DCE for the provision of a mechanised borehole, a 3 unit class room block, construction of a CHPS compound and several other supports rendered to the individuals in the community.
He appealed to to the assembly to come and commission the water project and the classroom block for official documentation and usage.
A committee was formed after the programme which would partner the NCCE to demand a response from the Assembly and this would serve as a check on the readiness of the assembly to address such concerns.
Source: Mybrytfmonline/Obed Ansah
