Tano South places first in league of district assemblies
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) have released a district league table (DLT) that ranks the level of development of the 216 districts in the country .
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The districts were ranked in six key sectors in terms of their delivery in health, education, sanitation, water, security and governance.
The Tano South District in the Brong Ahafo Region came first with a score of 76 per cent while the Karaga District in the Northern Region ranked last with 15 per cent.
The Nsawam-Adoagyiri Municipal Assembly, Dekyembour, Jaman South, Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai, Berekum, Offinso, Awutu Senya, Kwabre East and Atwima Kwanwoma districts ranked from second to 10th respectively.
Increasing social accountability
The DLT aims to increase social accountability for development across Ghana’s 216 districts so as to improve state responsiveness in service delivery.
Speaking at the national launch of the DLT in Accra, the UNICEF representative in Ghana, Ms Susan N. Ngongi, said in democratic countries around the world, the provision of public goods and services was implicitly founded upon social accountability between citizens and their government representatives.
Mechanisms for strengthening social accountability, she said, included rights campaigns, citizen report cards and league tables.
Encouraging dialogue and feedback
The Chief of Policy at UNICEF, Ms Sarah Hague, said the DLT would improve responsiveness, encourage dialogue and feedback among stakeholders and also increase transparency.
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Lessons learnt from the exercise, she said, were that there was inequity between districts that occupied the top and those at the bottom, difficulty in accessing data and also the fact that the development of the district was a responsibility of all.
Social accountability
The Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Nii Lantey vanderpuije, said social accountability was of prime importance to the government and that was why the ministry had created a unit for that purpose.
Writer’s email: victor.kwawukume@graphic.com.gh