By Mildred Siabi-Mensah
Sekondi, Oct. 8, GNA – The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) has engaged Key community actors on the Electronic Infrastructure Monitoring Tools and the Community Scorecard to enable them to effectively participate in governance processes.
The community actors had been exposed to the two social accountability tools by the implementers of the Twin-Cities in Sustainable Partnership Project as part of the project component of improving urban Governance through a participatory approach.
Mr Aziz Mahmoud, the Governance Lead on the Project, at a day’s seminar said social accountability went beyond financial to actual performance on the ground.
He explained that the various Assemblies, through the collection of tolls and other incomes from the citizenry, had a social contract to provide social amenities that made life and living a pleasant choice.
Therefore, there was the need for citizens to constantly monitor development projects with keen interest for better performance.
Mr Mahmoud said society had a big role to play from planning to final execution of contracts or any projects and social issues of concerns in their communities and could approach the assembly not in a confrontational manner, but with evidence of concerns and pursue to the latter for the change they desired to see in their area.
He gave a presentation on how projects could be monitored electronically with the Electronic Infrastructure Monitoring Tools, where a practical session was conducted, and the participants assigned to look for projects in their communities and follow the processes to become more familiar and make it user friendly.
Mr Isaac Aidoo, the Project Coordinator on the Twins-Cities in Sustainable Partnership Project, took the participants through the various stages of the community score card and its usability to rate performances of the local authorities, as well as using the indicators to measure projects.
The score card had columns for project indicators, issues arising, where to go to for redress and finally a rating on performance of services in a range which gave an informed decision.
He encouraged participants to form teams in their communities and effectively use the tools to drive positive change.
GNA