Govt's effort to combat corruption given a boost

Swedru, May 06, GNA - The government's effort at combating corruption has been given a boost through the building of the capacity of district resource persons to track and monitor disbursement of funds and execution of projects.

Mr John Yaw Amankrah, Assistant Chief Statistician at the Ghana Statistical Service, said establishment of effective tracking and monitoring mechanism at national, regional and district levels would halt the siphoning of funds earmarked for projects. He said this at a workshop for over 50 civil society actors at Swedru on Friday.

The workshop, organized by Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) under the Governance Issues Forum (GIF), was to enable civil society organizations and individuals to participate more effectively in tracking the implementation of the national economic policy and 2006 budget statements as well as contribute to the preparation of the 2007 budget.

The workshop on the theme; "Civic participation in the 2007 Budget Process" also provided opportunity for citizens to participate and influence decision-making on the priorities and resources allocated in support of growth and poverty reduction at both the local and national levels.

He explained that lack of communication between point of disbursement and point of execution of projects had contributed largely to the siphoning of funds and appealed to opinion leaders and non-governmental organizations to monitor the district budgeting process.

Mr Amankrah said the objective of tracking was to put in place credible systems that could provide incontrovertible evidence on the specific amount of money allocated for each district in the national budget, what it is intended for, mechanism for implementing the project and its completion date.

Speaking on the budget planning process, Mr Joseph Antwi, Budget Analyst, Budget directorate Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, said assembly members are expected to interact with the electorate and other civil society organizations during the preparation stage to make inputs.

Ms Ruby Quantson, IDEG Project Officer, decried public apathy towards activities of district assemblies and urged civil society organizations to participate in the deliberations of the assemblies and hold their elected and public officials accountable.