Mildred Siabi-Mensah, GNA
Takoradi, Sept. 23,
GNA – The five commitments areas chosen by the Open Governance Partnership team
members has been given an overwhelming endorsement by selected groups within
the Sekondi /Takoradi at a validation workshop.
The commitments looked
at transparency and accountability in public infrastructure delivery,
sanitation, public finance and billings, technology and innovation among
others.
Mr Anthony K. K. Sam,
the Metropolitan Chief Executive of the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly
(STMA), said the validation of the Assembly’s Open Government Partnership draft
commitments for the period 2018 to 2020 was timely to enhance participatory
governance.
He said good
governance takes into consideration active participation of the governed in the
decision making process and “at S.T.M.A, we have exhibited our commitment at
all levels to demonstrate how we value the citizenry in our operations through
their various contributions, criticisms and suggestions.
“We were not too
surprised at our inclusion in the selection of the local OGP programme in 2016,
and two years on, we continue to feel honoured. “
As part of the
programme, STMA is expected to submit its second OGP Local Action Plan in the
last week of September a commitment that hinges on potentially high impact Open
Government commitments.
Mr Isaac Aidoo, OGP
programme focal person, said three civil society partners for the OGP programme
(Friends of the Nation, Berea Social Foundation and S.T.M.A–CSUF) have received
a grant from the OGP Trust Fund, managed by the World Bank to facilitate the
co-creation process for the new Action Plan in collaboration with the Assembly.
As part of the
process, a nine member Working Team made up of government officials, civil
society organizations, the media, traditional leaders, some private
organizations, community and vulnerable group representatives has been formed.
Mr Aidoo said the Team
has so far engaged selected community members and other stakeholders to solicit
their inputs for the second action plan.
The Focal Person said
the team embarked on various engagements and consultations at New Takoradi,
Adakope, Nkotompo, Ngyerasia and Essaman to solicit views in building strong
commitment areas.
Mr Aidoo said
vulnerable groups such as People with Disability and People Living with HIV
were not left out as the Team organized separate meetings for them to also make
their inputs, the media and government officials were also engaged by the Team.
He said “in
furtherance to the co-creation process, the 40-member Multi–Stakeholders’ Forum
was tasked to maximize participation and cooperation between the government and
civil societies”.
The Forum, he said,
would continue to ensure that relevant partners meet and discuss issues that
needed to be addressed to promote participatory governance and also consider
the views of citizens when making decisions.
The second action plan
he said is to significantly increase the level of public inclusiveness in the
delivery of their mandates and institute proper two-way communication with the
public to significantly make the work easier especially on our service delivery
processes beforehand.
Mr Aidoo said the
Assembly was leveraging on the OGP core values to position itself to better
respond to citizens’ needs and aspirations in a way to command their trust and
confidence.
He said the OGP core
values afforded the Assembly the opportunity to stay on the course of good
governance reforms, deepen its ‘fledgling democratic’ culture, document
achievements and share experiences with the international community.
Ms Brittany Lane, the
OGP programme local manager from the USA who witnessed the validation workshop,
was impressed about work done so far and advised that submission of the action
plan was done on time to ensure timely implementation of the commitments.
GNA