By Erica Apeatua Addo
Ahwetieso (W/R), Feb. 20, GNA – The Tarkwa-Nusaem Municipal Assembly has pledged to partner Friends of the Nation, a socio-environmental advocacy non-governmental organisation, to effectively implement open government commitment to promote transparency and accountability in the municipality.
Mr Benjamin Kessie, Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), said their dedication to open government and making it inclusive serves as an impetus towards the execution of programmes that improved upon lives and well-being of people in the municipality.
He said evidence can be seen with the numerous projects and programmes that have been carried out across the municipality using funds from all sources, especially mineral resources.
Addressing stakeholders at a town hall meeting organised by the assembly in collaboration with the FoN and Oxfam in Ahwetieso, Mr Kessie said: “I announce the municipality’s selection as one of the four new local governments in Ghana and 30 new local governments across the world to join the Open Government Partnership (OGP) 2022 membership.
“We have assembled here to share what we can collectively achieve together through this global partnership and also present what we have achieved with funds from our mineral resources since the utilization of Mineral Development Fund (MDF) is a major commitment in the OGP actionable areas.”
Highlighting on the essence of joining the global partnership, he said the growing demand for greater openness in the governance process and the need to improve upon the existing civic participation within the municipality encouraged them to join Government Reformers across the global through the OGP.
He said: “Chapter 20, Section 240 (e) of the 1992 constitution and section 40 of the Local Governance Act of Ghana, 2016, Act 936 obligate Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDA’s) to ensure accountability, inclusion and openness in the delivery of services to the people in their local government areas.”
The MCE said the law afforded the citizenry the opportunity to participate effectively in governance and promote an inclusive society based on public official accountability and responsiveness.
Mr Kessie said the assembly, therefore, sought to strengthen open government values accountability, participation, good governance, and openness to empower the citizens, improve upon their well-being and enhance development.
To achieve this, an action plan has strategically been co-created through multi-stakeholder engagements, which included civic society organisations led by the FoN, State and non-state actors.
Mr Kessie announced that the action plan would be officially launched and disseminated to all stakeholders at this forum.
Mrs Amanda Adjei, Municipal Planning Officer, in a brief presentation said through its share of the MDF, they have constructed new classroom blocks, sick bay, water closet toilet facilities, community centers.
The others were rehabilitation of sheds, supply, and installation of plants for palm oil processing, supply of refuse containers, constructed mechanized borehole holes, landscaping and pavement work.
She assured residents of the assembly’s continuous effort to bring development in every community within the Municipality and pleaded with them to show interest in meetings organized by the assembly in their locality.
Nana Efua Ewur, Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator for the FoN, commended the assembly for accounting to the people what the MDF they received on their behalf were used for.
She added: “They were able to indicate the type of project, where it was located, and amount involved. I remember I visited a district, and they could not mention one project funded by the MDF.
GNA