By Erica Apeatua Addo
Ahwetieso (W/R), Feb 21, GNA-The Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly has pledged to partner with a Non-Governmental Organisation Friends of the Nation, socio-environmental advocacy to ensure the effective implementation of the open government commitments to promote transparency and accountability.
Mr Benjamin Kessie, Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), said the Assembly’s dedication to open government and making it inclusive would help in the execution of programmes to improve the lives and well-being of people in the Municipality.
He said there was evidence of the many projects and programmes 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 FoN and Oxfam in Ahwetieso, Mr Kessie said, “I announced 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 utilisation of Mineral Development Fund (MDF) is a major commitment in the OGP actionable areas,” he said.
Highlighting the essence of joining the global partnership, he said the growing demand for greater openness in the governance process and the need to improve the existing civic participation within the municipality encouraged them to join Government Reformers 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 allows the citizenry to participate effectively in governance and promote an inclusive society based on public official accountability and responsiveness.
Mr Kessie said the assembly sought to strengthen open government values of accountability, participation, good governance and openness to empower the citizens, improve 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 organizations led by FoN, State and None-State
Actors and citizens of the Municipality to establish and own the values of OGP as a worthy approach to shape governance and deliver better living standards for the people they serve.
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, the Assembly had constructed new classroom blocks, a sick bay, water closet toilet facilities, and community centres.
The others are the rehabilitation of sheds, supply and installation of plants for palm oil processing, supply of refuse containers, construction of 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 FoN, commended the assembly for accounting to the people what the MDF they received on their behalf were used for.
She added that “They were able to indicate the type of project, where it was located, and amount involved. I quite remember l visited a district and they were not able to mention one project funded by the MDF.”
GNA