The OSANKO Child Poverty Relief, a Non-Governmental Organisation, with the Effutu Municipal Assembly has organised a meeting to introduce the Social Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (SPEFA) project to people in the area.

The SPEFA project is a component of the Local Government Capacity Support Project funded with a grant from the World Bank grant and their partner, the Netherlands Development Agency (SNV), through the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.

The overall aim of the project is to improve the citizens’ perception of urban management and increase their engagement with the Assembly.

Representatives of Parent Teacher Associations, youth groups, women’s groups, transport unions, traders, identified political parties, assemblies, unit committees, traditional rulers and religious bodies were among the participants.

Mr. Francis Ayikwi Tagoe, the Effutu Municipal Chief Executive, who launched the Project at Winneba, stated that transparency and accountability would be the hallmark of his Administration to end the negative perception of the activities of the Assembly.

He said because the Assembly was a grassroots Parliament but non-partisan in nature, Assembly members and Unit Committee members must put aside their political sentiments and effectively make constructive contributions towards creating a healthy environment to live in.

The MCE urged the participants to take the project very seriously to enable them to play their roles effectively to serve as a knowledge sharing platform for strengthening the fiscal framework for decentralisation in the Municipality.

Mrs. Sarah Naa Dedei Agbey, SPEFA’s Project Manager, said accountability was key in achieving fair and equitable rules in line with the mechanisms by which individuals and organisations needed to safely and legitimately report their concerns for redress.

SPEFA is targeted at achieving consistent and high quality support for the development and the operationalisation of civil society-led processes for transparency and accountability in the operations of MMDAs.

“It is also to strengthen CSO’s/NGO’s, Members of Parliament, Traditional Authorities and Community Leaders to effectively engage with the MMDAs and the sub-structures on public financial management issues,” she explained.

The participants were schooled on Citizens’ Engagement Platform, Local Government Systems, Understanding Social Accountability, Roles of Citizens in Social Accountability, Media and Social Accountability and Success Factors for Social Accountability.