By Solomon Gumah
Tamale, April 10, GNA – Miss Heskeya Salma, Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning Officer at Simba Ghana, has emphasised the need for increased public interest in accountable governance as a crucial step towards achieving sustainable development.
She said when citizens were more involved and informed, they could access essential information about government interventions, budgets, and decision-making processes thereby fostering transparency and accountability, especially at the grassroots level.
She was speaking at a citizens accountability forum at Sagnarigu in the Northern Region.
The forum brought together selected youth groups, including persons with disabilities (PwDs), women, and girls, amongst others.
It was organised by Simba Ghana in collaboration with the Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) with funding support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
It formed part of the implementation of the Evidence for Development (E4D) project being implemented in the Sagnarigu Municipality.
It was on the theme: “Developing Local Accountability through Citizen Participation and Evidence-Based Dialogue.”
It served as a platform for stakeholders, policy actors, and citizen groups to strategise on ways to promote accountable governance at the zonal council level.
The E4D project seeks to empower policy actors by strengthening their capacity to access and utilise relevant data and evidence to inform policy-making processes thereby enhancing social development at the subnational level.
Alhaji Alhassan Ziblim, a retired educationist and Technical Advisor for the E4D project, underscored the significance of accountability amongst duty-bearers.
He stated that accountability encouraged active citizen participation in national development and urged community members to prioritise demanding their rights, particularly regarding development initiatives to help resolve the challenges facing their communities.
Mr Abdul-Hamid Toyibu, Head, Planning Unit at the Sagnarigu Municipal Assembly, sensitised participants on the importance of tax compliance, emphasising that revenue generation was vital for implementing development projects.
Participants expressed appreciation to Simba Ghana for organising the forum and called for more of such engagements to raise awareness amongst citizens on how they could contribute meaningfully to the country’s holistic development.
GNA
EA/CA