Residents of the Nyingari Community in the East Mamprusi Municipality of the North East Region have asked the authorities to provide them with potable water as they depend on a stream for domestic use and other purposes.
The community has only one borehole, which has a low water table, making residents to enjoy its benefits only during the rainy season.
The situation has compelled the more than 800 residents to share the stream with animals, with their plight worsening during the dry season.
At a social auditing forum organised by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Naa Abdul-Karim Bugbila Tia, the Chief of Nyingari, said residents were suffering and they would be grateful if the Assembly constructed a borehole for them, at an area with high water table, to reduce the water crisis.
The forum had funding support from the European Union as part of the implementation of the Accountability, Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Programme.
The community, through the NCCE support, formed a seven-member social auditing implementation committee to work towards addressing the challenge.
The engagement brought together representatives from the East Mamprusi Municipal Assembly, the Ghana Police Service, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, and residents to demand accountability from duty-bearers and deepen citizen’s participation in local governance.
Mr Wilberforce Zangina, the Acting North East NCCE Regional Director, said the forum was a development mechanism to rekindle the self-help spirit in community members, sensitise them to be active participants in local governance, and promote community ownership of development projects.
“Basic principles that must exist in democratic governance includes citizen’s participation, equality, equity, inclusiveness, transparency, accountability, human rights and rule of law,” he said.
Mr Zangina said it was time for communities to undertake development initiatives, mobilise resources and seek technical advice from the district assemblies for proper execution.
That would ensure sustenance of projects, promote accountability and enhance good governance, he added.
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