The people of Yawkwei in the Asante-Akim South Municipality have initiated the construction of a three-storey classroom block for the local primary school to address the perennial congestion in the school.

Overcrowding in classrooms remains one of the major challenges confronting the school with as many as 85 pupils in one class, a situation which is adversely affecting academic work.

This, the people found, was unacceptable, thus started mobilizing funds to provide a more spacious classroom block to bring relief to both pupils and the teaching staff.

The project, which is at the foundation level, is expected to be funded through series of fund-raising activities with support from the Assembly and other philanthropists.

They believe development is not the sole responsibility of government and that individual communities have a role to play by embarking on self-help projects to speed up development in their communities.

These came to light at a social auditing forum organised by the Municipal office of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) in the community.

The forum was to promote community ownership of development projects, increase awareness of the operations of the Local Government and empower the citizenry to demand accountability from duty bearers.

It forms part of the Anti-corruption, Rule of Law and Accountability Programme (ARAP) being implemented by the Commission with funding from the European Union (EU).

The people mentioned poor roads and drainage system as well as lack of refuse containers as some of their challenges, which they want the Assembly to swiftly address.

Mr Wilson Arthur, the Regional Director of NCCE, applauded the people for their commitment towards development and urged them to keep up their communal spirit.

He said the zeal and enthusiasm of the people towards the school project deserved commendation and charged them to maintain that patriotism in the interest of development.

Mr Samuel Kwasi Otchere, the Municipal NCCE Director, said social auditing was not necessarily about financial accountability but a mechanism to empower the citizenry to demand accountability from duty bearers, while taking steps to embark on developmental projects.

He said effective social auditing would naturally promote accountability not only on the part of public office holders but also community leaders.

Madam Joyce Afutu, the Director of Communication and Corporate Affairs of the NCCE, said leadership was critical in any human endeavour and urged the people to always be mindful of those they chose to lead them.