By Regina Benneh,GNA
Odomase, (Bono), Feb. 26, GNA – Mrs Cynthia Anima Boadu, the Bono Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has urged Ghanaians to remain law abiding and contribute to holistic national development.
He said everybody ought to reflect and identify where he/she could contribute meaningfully to the betterment of society, instead of blaming one another for societal woes.
Mrs Boadu gave the advice when speaking at a social auditing engagement meeting at Odomase in the Sunyani West Municipality of the region.
She said lawlessness, acts of indiscipline and blame-game hindered progress.
The Sunyani West office of the NCCE organised the meeting aimed to increase citizens’ participation in governance and promoting transparency and accountability and attended by Heads of Department and Agencies, religious bodies, artisanal workers, and traditional authorities.
It further sought to empower the locals to assess execution of development projects, and also deepened their engagements with duty-bearers.
Mrs Boadu explained that the social auditing process involved citizens identifying gaps in policy implementation and jointly developing action plans with the local authorities.
She said the social audit approach strengthened accountability, promoted inclusive decision-making, and fostered shared responsibility for development outcomes.
Madam Claudia Baba, the Bono Regional Director of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) took the participants through public accountability Mechanisms like citizens’ rights complaints, redress procedures as well as public office responsibility.
She said accountability was not optional, but essential for good governance, saying that without accountability, authority was always abused, saying that the essence of public accountability in the nation’s governance system had been highlighted through various mechanisms and institutions.
Mad Baba urged public office holders to act in the interest of the public, remaining transparent and accountable to citizens.
Key elements in public accountability include transparency, responsibility, enforcement, participation and the rule of law.
Mad Baba said institutions like Parliament, Judiciary, CHRAJ and the Office of the Auditor-General were all established to promote accountability, stressing that the 1992 Constitution remained the strongest accountability tool in the country.
It guarantees fundamental human rights and freedoms, limits abuse of power by public officials, and preserves citizens’ rights too.
She said citizens played a crucial role in promoting accountability through voting, petitioning, attending public hearings, and reporting complaints.
Some of the participants expressed concern about some acts of lawlessness that affected community development.
They mentioned blockage roads for personal gains, widespread of substance abuse among the youth, as well as school dropout rate and the lack of road signs to ensure children safety as some of the concerns.
GNA
Edited by Dennis Peprah/Benjamin Mensah