MMDAs should do more to promote citizens participation - Lily Fati Soale

Ms Lily Fati Soale, Head of the Social Accountability Unit, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, has called on the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to do more to promote citizens participation in their activities.

They should reach out to the people – engage them through town hall meetings and public hearing.

That, she said, was vital to local good governance, accountability and transparency.

She was speaking at a dissemination workshop for Coordinating Directors, Planning Officers and some senior citizens from the Greater Accra, Western, Eastern, Central and the Volta Regions, in Dodowa.

It was organized by the Ministry under its Local Government Capacity Support Project (LGCSP).

The goal was to present findings of the “Citizens Perception Survey” conducted as part of the LGCSP to assess the citizens’ appreciation and understanding of the delivery of projects.

This was carried out in 46 selected MMDAs across the country.

The survey showed that the assemblies’ were now increasingly engaging the people in the delivery of projects, compared with the situation in the past.

Ms Soaley advised the MMDAs to make sure that people, tasked to handle their client service units, were properly trained and understood the role of the assemblies.

The participants hailed the project, which they said was helping to bridge the gap between the assemblies and the citizenry.

That had resulted in improved citizen participation in the local governance system.

The five-year project, which ends this year, supported the 46 assemblies to deliver quality infrastructure in the areas of health, education and sanitation through the Urban Development Grants.