A Consultant at Project Impact Consult, a consultancy firm, Mr Edem Senanu, has urged Ghanians not to demand accountability from those in authority only during election periods.
He said for democracy to thrive, citizens must continuously ask questions, participate and do constant follow-ups on issues bothering on development.
“When citizens join hands and ask questions, people are made accountable. Participation is what ensures accountability” he said.
Mr Senanu was addressing the regional level consultation on the development of national framework for popular participation, in Cape Coast last Friday.
He said part of the civic responsibility for the citizens was to know the plans of their area and how those plans were being executed.
He said it was also to empower the citizens that workshops were being held across the country adding that “as far as we educate people about the law, they will bring change.”
A Research Fellow at the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralization Secretariat, Mr Gameli Kewuribe Hoedoafia, said although the government derived its powers from the people, there was no national policy framework for popular participation of the citizens.
He said the secretariat was coming up with a local governance bill which would harmonise all the laws on decentralization and local governance.
