NCCE empowers citizens with social auditing tools

The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) under its ambit to empower the citizenry to be active participants of the national governance architecture has intensified education of community leaders on social auditing mechanism.

The NCCE community social auditing empowerment forms part of efforts to enhance accountability and deepen grassroot participation in local government.

Ms Comfort Azalletey, NCCE Ablekuma Central Municipal Director told the Ghana News Agency in an interview after undertaking community education that the commission seeks to improve policy management and decision making system in the country.

She said the NCCE Community Social Auditing Empowerment project falls under the Accountability Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Programme (ARAP) which is being sponsored by the European Union.

She said Ghanaian citizens were either victims or beneficiaries of development interventions and for the country to attain its development objectives, citizens should have inputs into the development processes.

“Governments all over the world have effective systems for measuring policy impacts and therefore the social auditing tool is one of the effective mechanism to provide feedback on the impact of pro-poor interventions across the country” she noted.

Speaking at the Community durbar at Sukura a densely populated mixed neighbourhood in Accra, Ms Azalletey explained that the NCCE was using its Civic Education capacity and droves of NCCE Civic Educators across the country to mobilise the citizens for nation building, economic and social development, national unity and integration.

Ms Azalletey said the NCCE Social Auditing project would encourage citizens to hold accountable those entrusted with the national responsibility executing projects and ensure citizens, ownership of development programmes within their communities for sustainability.

Mr. Andrew Mensah Tulasi from the Ablekuma Central Municipal Assembly, who chaired the durbar in applauding the NCCE for the initiative said the assembly was ready to assist in any project to be selected to develop the community.

He commended the NCCE for using the project to widen the scope of social auditing at the community levels through participatory democracy and deepening local governance in a bid to tighten the link between policy formulators, implementers and beneficiaries.

Mr. Albert Odoi Anin, NCCE Greater Accra Regional Secretariat who participated in the programme stressed on the fact that, social auditing is a community owned activity or project and encouraged all to participate in it.

He said ARAP would promote good Governance in the country by reducing corruption and improving accountability from duty bearers. "We all have to be together in the fight against corruption in Ghana".

A seven-member committee was formed and sworn in to discuss strategies to tackle sanitation issues within the Sukura Community.