PARTICIPATORY MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF PROJECTS AND PROGRAMMES IN THE SAVELUGU-NANTON MUNICIPAL ASSEMBLY

Abstract

Participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E) aids in promoting greater transparency and accountability. This is because, it is a response to the growing demand for organisations to improve project and programme outcomes while giving stakeholders a clearer sense of the status of projects and programmes. However, the situation regarding PM&E is not clear on the level of stakeholder participation and practice of PM&E at the various MMDAs in the management of projects and programmes. This research, therefore, was to assess the level of participation in monitoring and evaluation of projects and programmes in the Savelugu-Nanton Municipal Assembly. This research used a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques such that the qualitative components complemented the quantitative aspects. A total of 196 respondents were sampled for the study. The study revealed that stakeholder participation in M&E of projects and programmes was high among the MPCU members and the District Assembly members but low at the Zonal Council and community levels. The study established that stakeholders mostly participated in M&E of projects and programmes through stakeholder review meetings. The study also indicated that transparency and accountability was the foremost outcome of PM&E. The study therefore recommends that M&E processes should be designed in such a way that it becomes more participatory and ensuring the practice of PM&E as a critical project management tool as well as enhancing existing ways through which stakeholders participate in M&E such as conducting the stakeholder review meeting for more than a day to ensure in depth discussion of M&E findings.