NGO wants proactive participation in governance

Mrs Serah Naa Dede Agbe, Project Manager of the Social Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability, (SPEFA) has called on Ghanaians to take active part in the governance of their communities.

She said most of the former developing countries in Asia and Latin America that had succeeded economically benefitted from the active participation of the citizenry in governance.

Mrs Agbe was speaking at the formal launch of the SPEFA Project in the New Juaben Municipality at Koforidua.

She urged Ghanaians to become well informed about national issues to enable them to contribute to discussions from well informed positions and not from allegations and speculations.

She said the project aimed at training the participants to use the internet to monitor government projects so that they could give feedback to state actors.

Mrs Agbe said the project provided platforms for citizens to meet with state actors in town hall meetings for the duty bearers to answer questions from the citizens.

The project, which started last year, is expected to end by 2017. The World Bank and the Netherlands Development Agency (SNV) are sponsoring it.

She said that measures had been put in place to sustain the programme at the end of its term in beneficiary areas.

Mr Appiah Kweku Boateng, Executive Director of 4H-Ghana, a youth development non-governmental organization and Project Coordinator for the New Juaben Municipality, called for active participation of the media in the project.

He said often people accused the duty bearers of corruption yet many are not able to suggest ways of tackling corruption.

He pleaded with citizens in the Municipality to participate in the town hall meetings that would be organized under the project to contribute to the development of their areas.