Upper East Regional Forum on Public Participation in Local Governance Programme.

19-08-2010 Narration : The Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mrs. Lucy Awuni has called on municipal and district assemblies in the region to comply with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Developments structure by setting aside some percentages of their common fund for the establishment and strengthening of their sub-structures. They should therefore budget adequately for the provision of office infrastructures and equipment and also build the capacities of staff that will work for the proper and efficient functioning of the sub-district structures. Mrs. Lucy Awuni made the call at the Upper East Regional forum on Public Participation in Local Governance at Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region. .Abraham Dimmie and Isaac Asaresat in for Radio Ghana and has filed this report.

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Report
The forum which was organized by Ibis, West Africa with funding from DANIDA attracted municipal and district chief executives, district co-ordinating directors presiding members and some civil society organizations .Ibis West Africa entered the Upper East Region in 2003. it operates through the Public Participation in Local Governance, PPLG Programme in all the nine district of the region. Among its objectives, the Programme support the district assemblies to ensure that citizens participation in the formulation, implementation and monitoring of policies that affect local governance is enhanced.
The capacity of civil society organizations is also strengthened to mobilized their communities to demand accountability of government. Under the first phase of the Programme which covered the period from 2003 to 2007 and involved three district assemblies, the salaries of staff of the sub-district structures were paid and the sub-district office furnished. Funding was also provided for the capacity building of the civil society organizations. Under the phase two of the Programme which covers the period of 2008-2013 the remaining six districts in the districts have been included. The forum was therefore organized to assess the performance of the district assemblies for the past two years. Mrs. Awuni said sub-structures are very important in that they form the basic units of Ghana’s decentralization and democratization process which seeks to ensure grassroot participation in decision making. The Upper East Regional Minister, Mrs. Awuni said transparency and accountability are key tenets of good governance in any society .she said the role of civil society organizations in consciousness raising and whipping up people’s interest in questioning issues that affect their lives cannot be overemphasized. She said however that in doing so the public should be cautioned not to be over zealous and make unfounded pronouncements on the airwaves about various personalities and institutions in the name of press freedom. Mrs. Awuni also called on municipal and district chief executives in the region to show personal interest and support women and people living with disability to participate in the forthcoming district level elections. The Bolgatanga Municipal Chief Executive, Epsona Ayamga said through ibis support the assembly has been able to educate the grassroot on their rights and responsibilities. He said as a result the revenue base of the assembly has seen appreciable increase because the people now know how to honour their tax obligations. The Country Director of Ibis, West Africa, Clement Nana Tandor said his organization is happy with the partnership of the district assemblies in the region and was confident that with the same cooperation a lot more would be achieved in the region.
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