As part of the Open Government Partnership, The Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly in collaboration with Friends of the Nation on Thursday, 16th February, 2023 held a Technical Committee Meeting to develop OGP communication strategy, stakeholder management plan and implementation framework for the Local Action Plan.
Present at the meeting included the Municipal Chief Executive, Municipal Coordinating Director, Municipal Planning Officer, Municipal Budget Analyst, Municipal Procurement Officer, Municipal Gender Desk Officer, Rep. from Inspirers and Advocates International and the CSO partner Friends of the Nation.
The Municipal Coordinating Director addressing the Committee expressed gratitude to Friends of the Nation for supporting the project. He said the OGP would deepen participation, inclusiveness, responsiveness and transparent governance. He urged all to contribute their quota to make the initiative a success in the Municipality.
Mr Kennedy Kwame Kankam of Friends of the Nation in his overview held that OGP seeks to support local open government champions to adopt innovative open government reforms.
He said the OGP Local process is based on an Action Plan spanning a period of 2 years comprising of a summary of the local jurisdiction’s open government strategic vision and a collection of co-created commitments.
He iterated that the participation of both government and non-governmental stakeholders is essential to the success of the OGP and detailed that the roles of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and other non-state actors is to support the implementation of the commitments in the Action Plan by providing technical expertise, human resources, raising awareness of the OGP process, among others to effectively ensure the OGP principle of co-creation and participation is fulfilled.
The Municipal Planning Officer in her presentation said the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality had developed an Action Plan under the OGP which had been co-created with citizens. The long-term vision of the Plan was to empower citizens especially women and vulnerable groups.
She said again that the Municipality focused on 4 commitments which were to
- Enhance Transparency and Accountability in the application of Mineral Resources
- Enhance Transparency and Accountability in Water services delivery,
- Improve the participation of women and other vulnerable groups in governance and
- Enhance civic participation in procurement and contract management.
The Municipal Planning Officer informed the meeting that changes or modifications could be made within six months after the submission of the Action Plan.
She reiterated the call for members to fully contribute and participate to make the OGP Initiative a success in the municipality and beyond.
ACTIVITY GALLERY
