By Emmanuel Gamson, GNA
Tamale, Nov. 15, GNA – The Tamale
Ecclesiastical Province Pastoral Conference (TEPPCON), has said marginalised
groups, including; youth, women and Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) must be
encouraged to participate in local governance to value their inputs and bridge
the development gaps.
The TEPPCON said, low participation of the
groups in the decision-making processes, and their inabilities to demand
accountability from duty bearers were contributing factors to under-development
in the country.
Madam Agnes Gandaa, Executive Secretary of
TEPPCON, therefore stressed the need for the marginalised groups to be
empowered to participate in local governance.
Madam Gandaa was speaking at a Town Hall
Meeting organised for vulnerable groups and some duty bearers in the Tamale
Metropolis, in line with TEPPCON’s initiative to promote participatory
governance at the local level.
The meeting was part of a project being
implemented by TEPPCON with funding support from Konrad Adenauer Stiftung
(KAS), a German Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), and dubbed; “Strengthening
citizen participation in local governance in the Tamale Ecclesiastical
Province”.
It created a platform for dialogue between
local government authorities and marginalised groups, and brought together
youth groups, women groups, Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) and officials from
the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development, National Youth
Authority (NYA), Department of Gender, National Commission for Civic Education
(NCCE) as well as the Electoral Commission (EC).
Madam Gandaa explained that the project
sought to address the low involvement of vulnerable groups in decision-making
and said it was being implemented in 10 selected districts within the five
dioceses of the Catholic Church in Northern Ghana, including; Tamale, Yendi,
Damango, Wa and the Navrongo-Bolgatanga dioceses.
She said “low or weak citizen participation
in decision-making on development worsened by inadequate citizen awareness and
the capacity to demand accountability from political and administrative
leaderships were some underlying causes of the low development in northern
Ghana”.
She emphasised that the project would
strengthen the capacities of citizens, especially marginalised groups to
participate in local governance and demand accountability from political and
administrative leaders to accelerate development.
Mr Alfred Ndago, Chairman of TEPPCON,
expressed worry about how the marginalised were left out in the decision-making
processes, adding that their opinions were not considered in policy
formulation.
He reiterated, the Catholic Church’s
commitment to contribute to promoting good governance, peace and justice and
development, for the wellbeing of citizens.
Alhaji Abdul Razak Saani, the Northern
Regional Director of the NCCE, educating members of the the public on the
upcoming referendum on December 17, 2019, explained that it was not for the
election of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) but,
seeking the inputs from Ghanaians to amend article 55 (3) to allow district
level elections to be conducted on partisan basis.
Mr Francis Owiredu, an Official of the
Northern Region Office of the EC, gave the assurance that his outfit was
prepared to conduct the upcoming District Level Elections (DLEs) and
referendum.
He schooled the participants on how the
referendum ballot sheets would look like and said a “Yellow colour” would mean
“Yes” vote and a “Brown colour” would mean a “No” vote on the ballot sheet.
GNA
