Effective Civil Society Organisatios in public budgeting will reduce waste of money and corruption

The coordinator for No Business as Usual Project (NBU) madam Esther Matey has underscored the need for Civil Society Organisatios (CSOs) to participate in public budgeting.

According to her, CSOs play an important role in public budgeting. She said, they can help improve budget policies by providing information on public needs and priorities through their connections with citizens, communities, and sectors.

Adding that when CSOs and others lack access to budget information or opportunities to engage in budget processes, it opens the door for the executive to choose unpopular or inappropriate programs, waste money, and allow or engage in corruption.

She bemoaned that low participation of Civil Society Organisatios (CSOs) is the budgetary preparation of the various assemblies is premised on the reality that most Civil Society organisatios are ignorant of their rights.

For Madam Esther Martey most CSOs are brefet of the knowledge that it is their constitutional right to participate in budgetary preparation and tracking at their respective assemblies.

Speaking to this medium on the sidelines during a training program on Budget and action planning organised for staff of Asokore Mampong, media and CSOs by implementors of NBU Project,  she stressed that effective participation will help promote effective local governance within all the assemblies, adding that budgetary is participatory.

The foregoing statement by the coordinated was prompted by a current gap existing within the affairs of most metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies in Ghana.

Esther Matey brought to bare that there is lack of collaboration between the assemblies and CSOs since the former fail to involve the latter in the affairs of the assembly especially in the area of budgeting.

This according her indication is characteristic of Asokore Manpong municipality per their findings.

She continued that the status-quo if not addressed will adversely affect the effective utilisation of resources and therefore challenged  CSOs and the citizenry to involve themselves in the activities of their assemblies and ask the necessary questions if they are not clear on matters pertaining the development of their area.