By Philip Tengzu
Wa (UW/R), Dec. 14, GNA – Journalists and media practitioners must abide by the ethical guidelines of the profession while utilising the legal frameworks available to ensure accountability and transparency in public service delivery at the local levels.
They should act as “bridge builders” by fostering constructive dialogue rather than promoting confrontation in their attempt to drive accountability using the Right to Information Act and the Public Financial Management Act, among other legal frameworks.
Pognaa Faati Korey, the Acting Upper West Regional Coordinating Director, said this at a training workshop for 20 journalists and media practitioners in the Upper West Region on the Performance Accountability Activity (PAA).
The PAA is to support the government to deliver high-quality local public services and enhance accountability to civil society organisations (CSOs), which focused on Agriculture, Fisheries, Health, Education and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).
“By scrutinising financial reports, procurement processes, and budget performance, the media can shine a light on areas of inefficiency while applauding instances of prudent resource management,” she said.
The workshop was organised by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to educate participants on the PAA and how the media could contribute to the successful implementation of the project.
It was to build their capacity on advocacy reporting to enable them to collaborate with the PAA implementing CSOs in advocating the tenets of the project.
It is a USAID-funded five-year project, expected to end in 2028 and implemented by a consortium of CSOs in 70 districts in 10 regions with Democracy International (DI) as the lead implementing partner.
The Community Development Alliance – Ghana and Norsaac are implementing the project in 10 districts and municipalities in the Upper West Region, except for the Wa Municipality.
Pognaa Korey said if the success stories and best practices in service delivery were highlighted, they could inspire replication of best practices across other jurisdictions, creating a culture of excellence within the municipal and district assemblies.
Mr Charles Yao Mawusi of Trans-Media Network, a facilitator at the workshop, took participants through the “Impact of public service delivery on Socio-economic development,” among other topics.
He encouraged them to mainstream PAA’s interventions in their programming, considering the media as an advocacy tool, to achieve its objectives.
Dr Martin Thompson Ntem of Trans-Media Network, also a facilitator, educated the journalists on advocacy reporting and how to identify service delivery advocacy issues.
The participants noted that information sharing between the media and the PAA implementing CSOs was key in ensuring effective collaboration between the two entities in the implementation process.
Ms Linda Ofori-Kwafo, the Chief of Party for USAID/Ghana PAA, in a press release, emphasised the importance of media in championing accountability, saying: “An informed media is essential for promoting accountability in public service delivery.”
“By bridging the gap between journalists and civil society, we are laying a strong foundation for sustainable and accountable governance at the district and community levels.”
GNA