Tamale-Ghana, July 7, GNA – The government has been urged to provide avenues for citizens to access information and participate in the implementation of policies to promote transparency and accountability in the country.
Mr Jerry Sam, Executive Director of Penplusbytes, who made the call, said citizens should be empowered to demand better public service delivery in the public sector within the framework of political and social accountability.
He made the call during an inclusive social accountability forum in Tamale organised by Penplusbytes in collaboration with Songtaba and SEND GHANA.
The event was part of the “HERE and NOW” project, which is conceptualised to leverage Right to Information, promote citizens’ access to quality, inclusive public health and education.
Mr Sam said there was need for government to strengthen citizens urgency to hold state and corporate actors accountable and make economic development work for the poor in the country.
He said research conducted by Penplusbytes showed that there was low participation of citizens in policy implementation and inadequate budgetary allocation for social protection programmes.
He said the research also showed a high incidence of corruption, which affected the quality of health and education service delivery.
He appealed to the government to increase the cash grants under LEAP to meet current inflation rate.
Alhaji Abdul Razak Saani, former Northern Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education, said transparency and accountability should be used as part of tools to reduce corruption in institutions and increase ethical behaviour at workplaces.
