Action plan – Tarkwa Nsuaem, Ghana, 2022 – 2024

At-a-Glance

Duration

Jan 2025

Date Submitted

30th November 2022

Foreword(s)

The growing demand for greater openness in the governance process and the need to improve on the existing civic participation within the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality make the decision to join Government Reformers across the globe through the Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More worthy and timely.

Chapter 20, section 240 (e) of the 1992 Constitution and section 40 of the Local Governance Act of Ghana, 2016, Act 936 obligate Metropolitan/Municipal/District Assemblies to ensure accountability, inclusionOGP participating governments are working to create governments that truly serve all people. Commitments in this area may address persons with disabilities, women and girls, lesbian, gay, bisexual, tr... More and openness in the delivery of services to the people in their local government area. The law affords the citizenry the opportunity to participate effectively in governance and promote an inclusive society based on public official accountability and responsiveness.

Our Assembly, therefore, seeks to strengthen the open government values of accountability, participation, good governance and openness to empower the citizens, improve well-being and enhance development.

This Action Plan was strategically co-created with multi-stakeholder engagements which include civil society organisations led by Friends of the Nation, State and Non-State Actors and citizens of the municipality to establish and own the values of open government partnership as a worthy approach to shape governance and deliver better living standards for the people we serve.

We the Assembly together with the lead Civil Society Organisation (Friends of the Nation) would ensure the effective implementation of the Open Government commitments to promote transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More and accountability in the Municipality.

Open Government Challenges, Opportunities, and Strategic Vision

This subsection details the Open Government Strategic Vision in your local area that should guide the commitments for the action plan period.

What is the long-term vision for open government in your context and jurisdiction?

The Assembly envisions to empower citizens, especially women and the vulnerable through continuous civic engagement and the effective use of mineral development resources to reduce the development challenges in the mining catchment communities to boost economic growth and promote open government principles.

The municipality further seeks to establish a robust project monitoring system by enhancing transparency, inclusiveness, and participation of stakeholders and citizens toward project sustainability.

What are the achievements in open government to date (for example, recent open government reforms)?

Improved Civic Participation, Accountability and Responsiveness

There has been improved citizens’ participation in social programmes purposed to build trust and confidence of citizens and be apprised of issues of development in the municipality.  This is achieved through the Meet-the-Press series, Community Engagements to assess the needs of citizens, Media engagements with phone-in segments, Town Hall meetings, Public Hearings, Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation, Participatory Planning and Budgeting which resulted in the production of the 2022 – 2025 Municipal Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP).

Improved Transparency in Public Infrastructure Delivery

There is established a social audit committee tasked with the mandate to socially audit all infrastructure projects to ensure that project implementation follows the standard practices. The Assembly is also a member of the CoST International (Infrastructure Transparency Initiative) which adopts and implements CoST’s infrastructure data standards (IDS).

Improved information disclosure and access.

The Assembly has developed a comprehensive website http://www.tnma.gov.gh which regularly updates its citizens with information about the Assembly on all government actions thus projects, programmes, policies, and activities.

Documents such as Approved Budgets, Auditor General’s Reports, Annual Action Plans, and other related documents are published to increase citizens’ access to information.

What are the current challenges/areas for improvement in open government that the jurisdiction wishes to tackle?

Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly is faced with a myriad of challenges which include the following:

1. Low participation of women in decision-making:

Women’s participation in key decision-making processes in the municipality is deficient and affects the completeness and inclusiveness of decisions/policies/programmes.

Further, there is a low representation of women in leadership roles at all levels to influence decisions and encourage women’s empowerment.

1. Inadequate disclosure of information and feedback mechanisms on project financing, contract management, and administrative operations serve as major setbacks to win the confidence and trust of citizens to contribute meaningfully to development.
2. Mistrust of citizens in mining catchment communities in the application of the Mineral Development Fund to implementation of projects.

Openness and Accountability: the inability of the Assembly to reach more people at the sub-district level to effectively participate and engage in areas of planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of projects and programmes due to resource constraints and low capacity of staff to manage new innovations is a challenge.

What are the medium-term open government goals that the government wants to achieve?

The medium-term open government goals that the government wants to achieve through the Municipal Assembly include the following:

1. Strengthen Participatory Planning and Budgeting:

Strengthen local level capacity for participatory Planning, Budgeting, Monitoring, and Evaluation systems through workshops and training.

2. Promote Transparency, Inclusion and Participation:

Enhance inclusive and equitable access to, and participation in socio-economic development by ensuring representation of all stakeholder groupings (men, women, children, people with disability, etc) in all geographical areas within the municipality in decisions that affect them.

3. Infrastructure Delivery and Efficient Management of Resources

Reduce the mistrust in the equitable application of the mineral development fund by ensuring that communities directly affected by mining activities benefit from the fund.

Additionally, strengthen stakeholder engagement to ensure the application of 10% of the Minerals Development Fund (MDF) towards women empowerment initiatives.

4. Promote Accountability:

Empower and create appropriate platforms for traditional authorities, civil societies, media, and other stakeholders in development processes to hold duty bearers accountable.

How does this action plan contribute to achieve the Open Government Strategic Vision?

The vision of the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality’s OGP Action Plan is to establish foundations essential to the implementation of policies, programmes, and projects aimed at empowering the citizenry and promoting shared growth.

It is also to facilitate the creation of a safe, secure, and empowered society where women and the less privileged in society including People Living with disabilities will have a voice and be counted among major decisions to improve the quality of policies.

The implementation of the commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... would strengthen local-level capacities through the effective engagement of all stakeholders in programmes that promote transparency, innovation, accountability, inclusiveness, and participatory governance for economic development.

How does the open government strategic vision contribute to the accomplishment of the current administration’s overall policy goals?

The overall policy goals of the current administration as detailed in Ghana’s 2022 – 2025 National Medium-Term Development Policy Framework (NMTDPF) dubbed “The Agenda for Jobs; Creating Prosperity and Equal Opportunity for All” seeks to Create opportunities for all Ghanaians; Safeguard the natural environment and ensure a resilient, built environment; Maintain a stable, united and safe society; and Build a prosperous society.

The NMTDPF which is also linked to the attainment of the Sustainable Development GoalsOGP countries are experimenting with open government innovations to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 16+ which includes peaceful, just and inclusive societies... (SDGs), guides the preparation and implementation of policies, programmes, and projects at the local level by the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly.

The Open Government strategic vision on good governance and transparency will help to ensure accountability at the sub-nationalRecognizing that much of what impacts people’s daily lives occurs at the local level, many OGP countries are working to open up lower levels of government by creating commitments focused on subnatio... level in the utilization of public resources to create opportunities and build a prosperous society. Civic participation and inclusion in the planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of projects and programmes will help to ensure a resilient built environment, safeguard the natural environment and maintain a stable, united, and safe society for economic growth.

Engagement and Coordination in the Open Government Strategic Vision and OGP Action Plan

Please list the lead institutions responsible for the implementation of this OGP action plan.

• 1. Office of the Municipal Coordinating Director of the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly
• 2. Municipal Development Planning Unit of the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly
• 3. Municipal Social Welfare and Community Development Department of the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Asse
• 4. Municipal Environmental Health Department of the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly
• 5. Information Service Department of the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly
• 6. National Commission for Civic Education of the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly
• 7. Friends of the Nation (FoN)

What kind of institutional arrangements are in place to coordinate between government agencies and departments to implement the OGP action plan?

There is a Technical Committee, comprising experienced staff, led by the head of the planning unit and the OGP Point of Contact in charge of the coordination, facilitation, monitoring, and evaluation of the local action plan.

Selected Departments and Units of the Assembly whose mandates are directly connected to the commitments will be responsible for their implementation. This will be led by the respective heads. Also identified media groups, civil society organizations, and other local and international organizations whose activities are also linked to the commitments will collaborate with the lead department and unit to implement the commitments.

A Multi-Stakeholder ForumRegular dialogue between government and civil society is a core element of OGP participation. It builds trust, promotes joint problem-solving, and empowers civil society to influence the design, imple... (MSF) will be constituted and adopted by the Assembly to handle the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the commitments, as well as assist in the mobilization of additional resources to support the implementation of the plan. Further, all departments, units, and associated CSOs shall report to the Municipal Planning Unit. The OGP Point of Contact will be responsible for the collation of all reports on implementation and submit them to the MSF meetings for deliberations.

What kind of spaces have you used or created to enable the collaboration between government and civil society in the co-creation and implementation of this action plan? Mention both offline and online spaces.

1. A Technical Committee has been constituted to coordinate and hold periodic meetings and discusses actions toward the co-creation and implementation of the action plan. The committee as well identified resource gaps in the implementation structure and recommends solutions for the effective implementation of the action plan.
2. The Assembly has established a Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF) which meets to ensure that essential technical expertise, logistics, and finances are available to implement the specific commitments in the action plan.
3. The Municipal Coordinating Planning Unit (MPCU) as part of their quarterly meetings reviews, evaluates, and makes relevant recommendations to enhance the implementation of programmes and activities.
4. WhatsApp platforms have been created for the Technical Committee and MSF to enhance regular updates of information.
5. Town Halls and community meetings are organized to disseminate information on Assembly’s performance and receive feedback on the implementation. Town hall meetings are streamed live on Facebook.
6. All media platforms in the municipality including TNMA’s website are updated regularly to keep the public informed on activities carried out.

What measures did you take to ensure diversity of representation (including vulnerable or marginalized populations) in these spaces?

Open fora were organized and key stakeholders who represent the interest of various groups including Civil societies, Women groups, Assembly members, YouthRecognizing that investing in youth means investing in a better future, OGP participating governments are creating meaningful opportunities for youth to participate in government processes. Technical ... More groups, PWDs, Political actors, Trade groups, Traditional leaders, Faith and GenderOGP participating governments are bringing gender perspectives to popular policy areas, ensuring diversity in participatory processes, and specifically targeting gender gaps in policies to address gov... More based organizations, among others were selected using stakeholder mapping. This afforded us the opportunity to identify and categorize key stakeholders for fair representation on both the Technical Committee and the Multi-Stakeholder Forum.

Who participated in these spaces?

1. Municipal Chief Executive (1)
2. Staff of the Municipal Assembly (30)
3. Staff of Academic Institutions (20)
4. Students Representatives (40)
5. Law Enforcement Officials (10)
6. Mining Companies Representatives (6)
7. Media (14)
8. Other Government Officials (4)
9. Assembly Members (45)
10. Traditional Leaders (10)
11. Citizens (80)
12. Trade Associations (20)
13. Civil Societies (2)
14. Faith-Based Groups (10)
15. Gender Based Organisation (10)
16. PWDs groups (40)
17. Youth Associations (30)
18. Women Groups (50)

How many groups participated in these spaces?

18

How many public-facing meetings were held in the co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive...?

4

How will government and non-governmental stakeholders continue to collaborate through the implementation of the action plan?

The members of the Technical Committee made up of governmental and non-governmental stakeholders will collaborate with the Multi-Stakeholder Forum to track the implementation of the plan.

The technical committee will continue to hold regular meetings to come up with innovations to augment the implementation and address any challenges that may arise during implementation.

The MPCU, a statutory body of the Assembly, as part of their quarterly meetings will discuss ways to create more support for the sustenance and adherence to the implementation of the plan. They will also ensure the speedy implementation of the plan and collaborate to keep the operations of OGP in focus.

Please describe the independent Monitoring Body you have identified for this plan.

An independent monitoring body (Oversight Committee) composed of professionals from the academic circles, especially from the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) and CSOs who are not directly involved in the implementation of the action plan, will be formed to independently assess and evaluate the action plan co-creation process, the implementation and the outcomes achieved from the commitments.

Provide the contact details for the independent monitoring body.

• Dr. Frank Boateng, Senior Lecturer, University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa, fboateng28@gmail.com
• Miss Rhoda Gyampoh, Executive Secretary, Inspirers, and Advocates, rhodagyampoh2015@gmail.com
• Emmanuel O.B Addowah, Executive Director, ComCA GH, comcaghana@yahoo.com

What types of activities will you have in place to discuss progress on commitments with stakeholders?

• Organize open forums and round-table discussions with the public, government officials, and CSOs to update, share experiences and take feedback for corrective measures on the implementation of our commitment plan.
• Hold bi-annual Town Hall meetings to discuss the update and progress of implementation of the commitments and progress of developments with members of the civil society, stakeholders, media, and the general public.
• Organize quarterly Municipal Planning and Coordinating Unit (MPCU) meetings.
• Hold Community engagement meetings to discuss updates on the commitments.
• Maintain collaboration with the media to strengthen the partnership in promoting OGP values.

How will you regularly check in on progress with implementing agencies?

The Municipal Planning Unit led by the OGP Point of Contact will organize meetings and compile monthly reports of the respective commitments showing the progress of implementation.

The Technical Committee will hold regular meetings to discuss progress made towards the realization of the action plan, lessons learned as well as strategies to overcome difficulties encountered. Reports of the Technical Committee will also be submitted quarterly to the MSF for discussion. Targets set for various implementing commitments will be assessed using a performance contract.

How will you share the results of your monitoring efforts with the public?

The results of monitoring efforts will be disseminated to the public through the official website: http://www.tnma.gov.gh and on all social media handles – Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and LinkedIn to ensure ease of access and accountability.

In addition, the implementation of the action plan results will be published on the Municipal Assembly’s notice boards.

Radio dialogue sessions with phone-in segments will also be held to engage the public on progress and findings.

The monitoring results will also be discussed as part of the agenda in statutory meetings – the General Assembly, Management and HODs meeting, MPCU meetings, and presented in Town Hall meetings.

Endorsement from Non-Governmental Stakeholders

• Mr. Solomon Kusi Ampofo, Programme Coordinator, Friends of the Nation (FoN)
• Miss Rhodah Gyampoh, Executive Secretary, Inspirers and Advocates
• Nana Kwabena Ansah, Chief of Brahabobom, Wassa Fiase Traditional Council
• Ps. Michael Johnson, Religious Leader, Tarkwa, Church of Christ, Tarkwa
• Prof. Kumi-Boateng, Dean of Students, University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa, Ghana

TARKWA-NSUAEM MUNICIPAL ASSEMBLY OGP Local Strategy.pdf