The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA), as part of activities of the implementation the Twin- cities in Sustainable Partnership Project (TCSPP), has created an electronic government platform for the Metropolis to enhance access to information and service delivery.
The platform developed by LoGig software company based in Sekondi-Takoradi and is being test run would also improve upon responsiveness and efficiency in the Assembly’s service delivery as well as promote civic participation in urban governance, under the auspices of the Twin-cities in Sustainable Partnership Project.
The TCSPP is a three- year project being implemented in the cities of Sekondi-Takoradi and Palermo (Italy), with funding from the European union, which is aimed at enhancing the city authority’s capacity to respond to challenges of urbanization and climate change, unemployment and exclusion.
At a stakeholder engagement to announce the existence of the platform, Mr Aziz Mahmoud, Governance and Social Accountability Offic
er for the TCSPP, said the creation of the platform was in line with the 1992 constitution, the Local governance Act 2016 (Act936), and the right to Information Act, 2019((989) to among others, empower citizens to participate in decision- making , demand transparency, and accountability as well as gain unfettered access to legally permissible information from duty bearers in all aspects of national life ,including local governance .
The platform would allow people in the Metropolis to make inquiries, suggestions and lodge complaints about the activities of the STMA.
It covers areas like budget and fee rating, central administration, client services, development planning unit, environmental health unit, finance, human resources department, legal, metro guards, MIS/IT, Physical planning dept, public relation office, social welfare, transport, waste management and works.
Mr Mahmoud commended LoGig for the good work done and called on the public to patronize the facility to enable the assembly to achieve its a
im of creating the platform.
He also tasked the Assembly to own and manage the system well to adequately give the citizenry the needed information and assistance, hence bringing local governance to the doorsteps of the public.
He announced that role shows, jiggles, phone-in would be used to test run specific feature on the platform and that mini launches of the platform would also be done to check on all issues before the main launch.
Mr Mahmoud, in this regard, called on all stakeholders, especially the media, to inform the public about the platform so that they could also make the necessary inputs and corrections before its final launch.
Nana Baisie, Director and Project lead, of LoGig, who took the participants through the operations of the platform, commended STMA for taking such a bold decision to create the platform and urged the citizenry to own and use the platform to address their local governance needs.
Participants speaking to the GNA lauded the STMA and its partners for coming up with the pla
tform which they noted would go a long way to enhance public participation in the Assembly’s activities.
Source: Ghana News Agency