Mr Christopher Dapaah, Director of Resource Link Foundation, a Civil Society Organisation (CSO), has said many cities and towns are facing challenges in managing the growing demand for infrastructure and basic services of urbanization.
The challenges include urban poverty and slums, low level of access to water, sanitation, poor roads, inadequate school infrastructure, low energy supply as well as poor public financial management systems to support infrastructure and improve service delivery.
Mr Dapaah was speaking at the launch of the Social Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (SPEFA) Forum, under the Local Government Capacity Support Project, at Techiman.
It was attended by 160 stakeholders, including traditional rulers, identifiable groups, CSO, traders, heads of departments, assembly members and the media.
The forum was sponsored by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and SNV-Ghana, an NGO.
Mr Dapaah noted that report on the 2010 Population and Housing Census indicated that Ghana�s urban population growth rate is 3.2 per cent over rural population.
He explained that SPEFA is to enable the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to share and report on the financial management information and use of the assembly�s resources to the citizenry at the local level.
Mr Dapaah was optimistic, ownership and sustainability of SPEFA forums at the local level will not only promote transparency and accountability in local governance but also build the capacity of the citizenry to understand their participatory roles in decision making, resource mobilization for effective and efficient service delivery.
He reminded the MMDAs of their mandatory and collaborative roles in working with CSOs, as well as stakeholders at all interventions including town hall and quarterly meetings to factor such platforms and activities in their planning and budgets for its sustainability.
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