'ELECORATE MEET ELECTED' PROGRAMME HELD IN TAKORADI (Page 24)

Story: Kwame Asiedu Marfo & Juliet Aguair, Takoradi

THE District Chief Executive (DCE) for Wassa Amenfi East, Madam Doris Gyampoma Oduro, has noted that the involvement of communities in decision making is crucial to their development and the country at large.
She said if communities were allowed to participate in issues that affected their development needs, it would go a long way to ensure that they participated effectively in all development programmes.
Madam Oduro was speaking at a stakeholders’ dialogue on the “Electorate meet elected” project ¡in Takoradi.
The project, organised by the Foundation for Female Photo-journalists (FFP), with support from the Rights and Voice Initiative (RAVI), was attended by opinion leaders, assembly members, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and some unit committee members from the Ahanta West and Wassa Amenfi East districts of the Western Region.
The project was to ensure the participation and inclusion of community members in decisions affecting the communities by empowering them to gain knowledge of the constitutional roles and responsibilities of both the electorate and the elected.
It was also to strengthen accountability and transparency at all levels by deepening the knowledge of the electorate on their rights and responsibilities.
The DCE said before an assembly member attended an assembly meeting, he or she had to dialogue with the people on issues that affected them, adding that “after the assembly meeting, he or she has to meet the people and inform them about the discussions that took place”.
“Do not plan for them. Let them tell you what they need as a community because their involvement is very important,” she advised.
She said when the electorate voted people into power, they expected that their needs would be met.
She urged assembly members to work together with the communities to avoid any irregularities, saying, “Work for the people and implement their prioritised projects.”
She also advised assembly members not to involve themselves in chieftaincy issues since they were not king makers.
The Executive Director of the FFP, Ms Mardey Ohui Ofoe, explained that the project was to bring together assembly members and the electorate to identify the challenges confronting the assembly members which prevented them from meeting the electorate.
“We envisage that this intervention will address the interest of local communities, of which women form the majority,” she said.
She said the activities of the FFP project were public information and awareness campaign, training workshops on advocacy, lobbying and influencing skills for right holders, as well as publication and media engagement of issues.
“The bottom line of our project is to ensure that the final beneficiaries become more involved in the processes of development as everyone contributes his or her quota,” she explained.
She expressed the hope that the assembly members would present the interests of the communities at their general assembly meetings to ensure that their needs were met.