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Not all Social Accountability Projects initiated by district assemblies in Ghana are completed on time. It is also not uncommon for capital development projects to delay or abandoned due to various reasons.
Until recently, members of most communities in Ghana, including the twin community of Nkumkum-Mangoase in Agona East District of the Central region, have depended on the assemblymen critical information of capital development project earmarked for their communities.
In fact, it was unimaginable for community members to directly question when projects will start, when it will be completed or why project started have stalled. There is no gain saying that the provision of capital projects such as schools, clinics and water systems in hard-to-reach communities like Nkumkum -Mangoase depended on a community’s political affiliation.
Thanks to Ghana’s Strengthening Accountability Mechanisms Project (GSAM) a new sense of awareness and responsibility is now inherent in most districts as far as the implementations of capital projects are concerned.
The Ghana’s Strengthening Accountability Mechanisms (GSAM) is a five-year (2014-2019) social accountability project that seeks to ‘strengthen citizens’ oversight of capital projects to improve local government transparency accountability and performance in 100 districts of Ghana. The project being funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Consortium-CARE International, Oxfam, ISODEC and other Civil Society Organisation (CSOs), including Hope For Future Generations (HFFG)
Through community interface meetings, constant information flow on on-going projects from GSAM project officer (CDM) via project signposts and sensitization activities, communities members and opinion leaders are increasingly becoming empowered in seeking project details and performance as they relate to their peculiar needs through GSAM’s innovative scoring system.
41-year-old Isaac Mensah is one such opinion leader at Nkumkumso who is not only keen on the GSAM programme but religiously attends Community Monitoring training at the Agona East district assembly where he learns about current capital projects for his community, follow up on future projects
and request information about why facilities are not being provided as indicated in project implementation details from the onset.
Prior to the construction of a 3-unit junior high classroom block for his community, most school going children trek three miles away to access junior secondary education. This has been a dead ache for him as it renders his children ineffective in their studies due to tiredness.
So when two of his five children graduated from the new school right in Nkumkum-Mangoase community where he lives with flying colours, he was more than happy because he knows the rest of his children would perform even better, even with no blackboard in one of the classrooms.
When he learnt the assembly’s plans to fix a disability access facility at the school, Isaac chooses to press home the need for the assembly to fix blackboard in the classroom instead, convinced that the school needs a blackboard instead of a disability access facility.
“We need blackboard to be fixed rather than the disability access now since we don’t have any disable child in our community presently”, he explains.
The 3-unit classroom block which should have been completed within six months was part of the Agona East District Assembly’s medium term development and annual action plan. The project scored 68 per cent by the community under the GSAM year-4 project performance update. The score system indicates overall project transparency and accountability.
The social accountability story was no different at Nsaba Adwenpaye-Brofoyedur in Agona Nsaba where a 4-unit nurses quarters under completion is scheduled for completion due to constant monitoring and interaction with the district assembly and community members.
The GSAM project officer, Martha Hammond was beside herself as the project becomes her first to be completed within schedule.
The project, funded by the District Development Facility started in May this year is due to be handed over in December, 2018.
The successful and speedy completion of the project, according her has convinced the district administration that community assessment and the scoring concept developed by GSAM is the way to go. The assembly, according to her is determined not to implement any project without first identifying the project along with project communities.