Participants in a national development forum advised government organisations like the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to work more closely with district assemblies to guarantee successful project execution at the local level.
The participants in the discussion claimed that a lack of coordination between implementing organisations and the assemblies occasionally caused development initiatives in rural regions to stagnate.
They said that certain rural initiatives had not yet been finished because there had been little monitoring, which could have easily been done by local assemblies.
District Assembly, GETFund, Ministry of Finance, Office of the Administrator of the District Assembly Common Fund, Regional Coordinating Council, Northern Development Authority (NDA), and CSO representatives were among the attendees.
The debate, which was sponsored by SEND Ghana in collaboration with Integrity Action, both CSOs, intended to encourage citizen involvement in the oversight of development initiatives in their respective areas.
The day's event, titled "National level policy dialogue on findings of citizen-led monitoring of infrastructure delivery at the local level," covered the findings of a two-year project called "monitoring for financial savings" (M4FS), which aimed to let people follow the progress of development projects in their neighbourhoods.
In order to increase the ability of citizens to oversee development initiatives in their areas, the project is being implemented in Tamale, Yendi, Savelugu, Tolon, and West Gonja, five districts in the Northern and Savannah regions.
They received training in monitoring the progress of infrastructure projects, identifying issues, and conversing with relevant government figures, including contractors, to get clarification on how projects will be carried out.
Significance
Because they are the final beneficiaries, Siapha Kamara, chief executive officer of SEND Ghana, emphasised the need for individuals to take a great interest in following development projects in their neighbourhoods.
Although government organisations had monitoring teams, he claimed that individuals could support government efforts by strengthening their skills to ensure that money was spent wisely and that projects were finished on schedule.
Because markets, schools, and hospitals are being created with citizens in mind, the monitoring units are able to collaborate with them.
"The idea that the government should provide for citizens in every way is not a good mentality," Mr. Kamara continued.
Ibrahim A. Gombilla, the district development planning officer of Tolon in the Northern Region, claimed that assemblies were frequently excluded from GETFund initiatives in their jurisdictions, which made it challenging to oversee the programmes.
Therefore, he urged the GETFund administration to strengthen their relationship with the assemblies, give them the authority to award part of the fund's contracts, and keep an eye on the execution of their projects.
Akosua Abbey, a fund spokesperson, clarified that the fund simply issued payments in accordance with the law and did not award contracts.
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