The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is providing funding of 9.3 Million US Dollars for the implementation of the Ghana’s Strengthening Accountability Mechanisms (GSAMs) project in 100 Metropolitan, Municipal and Districts Assemblies (MMDAs) in all the ten regions.
This comes in two components: 50 Districts for Social Accountability (SA) and 50 Districts for Audit (GAS) for beneficiary MMDAs.
The project is a five-year governance project seeking to “strengthen citizen’s oversight of capital development projects to improve local government transparency, accountability and performance.”
A consortium of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) comprising CARE International, Integrated Social development Centre (ISODEC) and IBIS Ghana, in collaboration with 27 International and Local Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), have been implementing the project since 2014, and it is expected to end in 2019.
The components and benefits of the project came to light at a day’s stakeholder engagement organized by MAP International, a Christian NGO in collaboration with the Sunyani West District Assembly in the Brong Ahafo Region.
Four Districts in the region are beneficiaries; namely Asutifi North and Jaman South, beneficiaries of the GAS component, whilst Sunyani West and Asunafo South are beneficiaries of the SA component. The meeting brought together Assembly Members, Community Members, Officials of the Assembly and the Media.
Speaking on the Overview of the Project and District Performance Score Cards, Country Team Leader of MAP International, Gilbert Asante, said the project has been fashioned at increasing the availability of accessible information on MMDAs capital development project performance in 100 districts, Strengthen CSOs and citizens’ capacity to monitor MMDAs’ capital development projects in 50 districts, and increase the use of citizens-generated information on MMDAs capital projects in 50 districts.
He said the GSAM project will contribute significantly to improving the standards of living for citizens in the beneficiary districts by promoting efficient public spending, reduce corruption and improve service delivery, as well as build stronger CSOs and informed and empowered citizens to participate effectively in local governance and development.
Mr. Asante disclosed that, beneficiary community members have been trained on the use of community scorecards to generate information from citizens on specific indicators that bother on the district assembly’s capital project performance to promote their oversight responsibilities of projects in the district in line with set goals and objectives.
He therefore appealed to all stakeholders to collaborate and share experiences to make the project a success for the benefit of the country.
The Sunyani West District Chief Executive (DCE), Hon. Martin Obeng, in a speech read on his behalf by the Deputy District Coordinating Director (DDCD), Michael Kwabena Adjei, commended the USAID and MAP International for empowering community members to demand accountable and monitor progress of development projects being implemented in their localities.
He said government was committed to improving the living standard of Ghanaians, and pledged his commitment to reduce waste in the application of resources for development by operating an open door policy to allow for criticism and accountability in governance.
“The market stalls projects in Tainso and Kwabenakuma currently being monitored under GSAM will be executed in line with the tenets of the projects”, he assured.
Hon. Obeng commended residents of Tainso and Kwabenakuma for putting to use all the skills gained from the training to keep both the contractor and assembly accountable in the execution of the market stalls in the two communities, and urged other communities to emulate them.
Programmes Officer of MAP International, Nana Ama Tiwa-Boateng, encouraged participants collaborate and share experiences of projects implementation in their various localities to ensure sustainability of development interventions.
She explained the capacity building exercises organized by her outfit was to equip community members with the skills and knowledge to demand accountability from duty bearers, and appealed to stakeholders to justify the funding from donor partners by ensuring the success of the project.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
