ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PRINCIPLES OF TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN THE NADOWLI-KALEO DISTRICT OF THE UPPER WEST REGION IN GHANA.

Abstract

This research looks at the operationalization of transparency and accountability in the Nadowli-Kaleo District in the Upper West Region of Ghana. Transparency and accountability are cardinal for the effective delivery of services to the people who are the ultimate beneficiaries. The work assesses how the Secretariat of the Nadowli-Kaleo District Assembly involves the people in decisions and other activities of the Assembly which affect their lives. Specifics of the relevant areas they could be involved in are the planning processes, implementation and monitoring, Fee Fixing resolution, empowering the people socially and economically through education and sensitization and getting their inputs into the activities of the Assembly. The study used a cross-sectional design. This research design is appropriate for this study because it involved collecting data from respondents on the type and frequency of their participation in the Nadowli-Kaleo District Assembly's activities over a period of ten years. The study adopted the theories of Arnstein's (1969) ladder of participation and Burns et al. (1994) ladder of citizen empowerment to assess the level and extent of participation by the people of the Nadowli-Kaleo District in the activities of the District Assembly. These typologies of participation were adopted because transparency and accountability only result from effective participation. The concepts of democracy and citizens' participation and related issues have also been discussed. The study also tries to find out the relationship between Assembly Members and Member of Parliament on the one hand and the Community Members on the other and how they get along to give meaning to the operations of local and representative governance in the district which is also coterminous with the constituency. The functionality and involvement of Area Councils and Unit Committees in the Assembly's activities has also been assessed. The study went further to establish whether the people assert their rights to know and for that matter whether they call on authorities of the Assembly and Member of Parliament to answer questions on their concerns or not. Following the analysis of data collected from the field, the study reveals that the people in the district do not assert their rights and therefore they are not involved in the activities of the District Assembly. The substructures of the District Assembly are not functional and do not also involve the people in their respective activities. In this regard, the District Assembly is grossly not transparent and also unaccountable to the people. Similarly, the study reveals that the Member of Parliament and Assembly Members are not accountable to the people they represent. On the basis of these findings, the study recommends the enlightenment of the people in the district to be able to hold the Assembly and its officials to be accountable to them. It further recommends that substructures of the District Assembly should be made functional by enabling and resourcing them to deliver on their mandate. Non-governmental organizations and the media interested in issues of transparency and accountability should also serve as watchdogs and mouth piece for the people by holding the District Assembly and all other players in the system to be transparent and accountable to the people within the jurisdiction of the District Assembly in order to promote participation and constructive development in the district.