MMDCEs advised to open up

Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) have been advised to open up to the public and community based organisations as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on social public expenditure to clear doubts about how assemblies use their funds for development.

They have also been advised to support with information to clarify the negative perception the public have about how assemblies spend and manage funds to bring about development in their various localities.

The advice was given by the Programmes Coordinator of Progressive Excellence Youth Organisation (PEYORG), an NGO based in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality of the Central region, Mr. Wilfred Sarsah, during a training workshop on Social Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (SPEFA) forum at Elmina last week.

He observed that there was a lack of trust between the public and the district assemblies regarding expenditure and added that there was therefore the need for MMDCEs to be transparent by opening up to ensure accountability and transparency.

Taking the participants through the role of the media in social accountability, Mr. Sarsah charged the media to pay attention to public views and concerns in order to better address their issues.

He implored the media to constructively engage with the citizens and recognise their initiatives and potential to promote good governance.

He again charged the media to be professional bearing in mind the concerns of the citizens to avoid being manipulated.

Programmes Officer of PEYORG, Mr. James Otchere, explained that the forum was PEYORG’s social responsibility to ensure transparency and accountability in the local governance system.

He added that the forum was aimed at bringing the citizens up to speed with what the assemblies do with revenue they generate and establish a platform for them to deliberate on developing the municipality.

He revealed that the next step was for PEYORG to organise a town hall meeting where all the duty bearers in KEEA assembly will be summoned for the citizens to demand accountability.

The training workshop which equipped the people on how to liaise with the media in demanding accountability from the assembly was attended by traditional authorities, artisans, assembly members, farmers, youth groups and unit committees among other groups and individuals.