Participation of citizens in local governance necessary

Participation of citizens in the formulation, implementation and monitoring of local governance policies and programmes is being activated at the unit committee and district assembly levels to promote good governance and accountability. This would help in the gathering of vital information for the provision of needs of the citizenry, eliciting community perception regarding service delivery by the district assemblies and creating space for communities to determine their wants. Mr. Norbert Awulley, Builsa District Chief Executive, said these during a public hearing at Town and Area Council level, organized by the Assembly and Ibis West Africa at Sandema on Tuesday. It was aimed at gathering inputs for the preparation of the 2010-2013 districts medium term development plans and provide a platform for the citizenry to interact with policy makers. Mr. Awulley urged the people to take active part in decision making so that they would be able to hold officials accountable. He noted that members of sub-structures such as unit committees and area councils would be trained and given the mandate to operate effectively. Mr. Awulley said the mobilization of revenue for development and drawing of district budget would be the sole responsibility of the sub-structures. He advised the people to take agriculture seriously since development of the area would depend on such economic activity. Mr. Awulley urged the people to report any irresponsible official in the community to the appropriate quarters and cautioned that names of teachers who would engage in alcoholism would be deleted from the pay roll. The District Development Planning Officer, Mr. Lawrence Webadua said that the programme was the last in a series organized in the district. He said similar fora had been organized for members of town councils and area councils and issues that were discussed needed immediate redress while others required long term planning.