From Reactive to Proactive Disclosure; Public Officials’ Mindset Change Leads to Increased Disclosure and Contract Monitoring

The local governance system is faced with issues of limited participation, more so, the depth of engagement is gradually shrinking. The situation would be better, if citizens were invited to the planning and budgeting meetings that set the agenda and expenditure for their local government’s Annual Action Plans and the Medium-Term Development Plans. Citizens would feel a sense of ownership and appreciate investments made on activities and projects resulting from the wish lists from their engagements and not, projects that are foisted upon them. 

Section 35 (6) of 1992 Constitution posits Ghana’s democracy as hinging on the popular participation of citizens “... in decision-making at every level in national life and in government”. Article 240 (2) of the Constitution also mandates local government authorities to provide avenues for citizen participation (or engagement) as a means of fostering accountability. The detailed expression of these constitutional provisions is captured in the Local Government Act 2016 (Act 936). 

An informed citizen contributes to the shaping of a country’s development. Section 1 (1) of Ghana’s Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2019 (Act 989) gives every citizen the right to ask for any information that is held by public institutions, including private institutions performing a public function in Ghana, whereas section 1 (2) requires that all public institutions must make it easy for the public to obtain information. The RTI law is one of the anti-corruption tools that will increase the transparency of the day-to-day public administrations. The Local Governance Act also gives citizens the right to participate in the affairs of local government to ensure accountability, transparency, and ability to build community support for a project. 

What is Open Contracting?

Open contracting is about publishing information concerning how the government buys goods, works and services. It is also about this information being available, accessible to the entire public and being timely. Timeliness here means that the information is current and therefore the procurement process is still susceptible to intervention, if necessary.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has frozen the assets of the former Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, popularly known as Sir John, as it continues investigations into allegations of unlawful acquisition of state lands.