The media has been asked to help encourage and deepen the involvement of the people in the activities of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), to promote accountability.
Madam Lilly Fati, Head of the Social Accountability Unit of the Local Government and Rural Development Ministry, said the people needed to overcome apathy to become real actors in political decision-making.
She was speaking at a two-day workshop on the country’s political decentralization held in Kumasi, which brought together 53 members of the Social Accountability Media Network, drawn from the Ashanti and Eastern Regions.
It was organized with funding from the World Bank, and aimed at building the capacity of the participants to properly inform and educate the people on why they should not only take interest in the district level elections, but the work of the Assemblies as well.
It was also meant to aid the participants to hold the Assemblies accountable for their actions and inactions.
Madam Fati said it was important to make sure that government’s financial resources were used to transform the living conditions of the people, especially the rural population.
“The expectation is that the media would play its watchdog role more responsibly”, she added.
