Story: Tim Dzamboe, Ho
THE relationship between the people of Ho and the municipal assembly has been adjudged as one of the strongest and most effective in the country, in view of the high level of engagement of the people in the development of the municipality.
The Ghana Mission Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Mr Robert Hellyer, who said this noted that the high level of involvement of the citizenry in decision-making processes, such as planning and budgeting, had led to significant success in the implementation of self-help projects.
Mr Hellyer was addressing a durbar of members of civic unions, school management committees and parent/teacher associations to conclude a three-year programme on partnership in strengthening decentralisation and improving quality education under the Government Accountability Improves Trust (GAIT) II in the Ho municipality last Thursday.
The programme, which has been introduced in 25 districts of the country, entails support for democratic local government and decentralisation, strengthening civil society and increasing community advocacy for quality education.
Mr Hellyer said Ghana’s democracy had been described as vibrant and a model for many African countries, adding that the GAIT II programme testified to the contribution of the US government to the growth of democracy in the country.
He underscored the essence for both citizens and local government institutions to assume joint responsibility for the development of the local communities and hold each other accountable, adding that through that engagement, they could tackle issues of joint concern, such as quality education for their children.
He, however, said the true success of GAIT II would be measured by whether the high level of local government-citizen interaction recorded under the programme would be sustained after the end of the project
In an address, the Director of the Institute of Local Government Studies, Dr Esther Ofei-Aboagye, said the success story from Ho would be emulated by all assemblies in the country.
She said the excellent mode of phasing out the project was a sign of progress ahead for the development of the districts.
A director at the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment (MLGRDE), Madam Livina Owusu, said the project had given a vital clue to the aspect of transfer of competence and private–public partnerships under the decentralisation process which manifested in the project, stressing that making people part of development was the essence of the decentralisation policy.
An Assistant Director at the Ghana Education Service (GES) Headquarters, Mrs Josephine Kuffuor-Drah, advised that best practices under the programme should be sustained, adding that the GES would follow up to ensure that the benefits were spread to all schools across the nation.
For her part, Madam Evelyn Arthur of GAIT said 24 civic unions were formed and energised in Ho under the programme and that they formed a potential strength for the ultimate to institutionalise best practices in the governance of the nation.
Earlier in a welcoming address, the Ho Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Mawutor Goh, said the GAIT II influence had brought a lot of benefits to communities, schools and especially the increase in the number of women in the assembly.
He, therefore, appealed to all and sundry to uphold all the principles under the project to achieve better results.
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