The Media Foundation for West Africa in collaboration with DW Akademie has held an inception meeting with the actors in the Ellembelle District to interact on a project dubbed “Promoting Citizens Participation in Local Governance through Increased Access to Information”.
The Programme Officer for Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Mr. Philip Acquaye indicated that the programme which is being funded by DW Akademie seeks to create the avenue for information handlers to share the right information with the citizenry.
According to him, the programme is on pilot in Four Assemblies namely Ellembelle, Twifo Eti Mokwa, Tema Metropolitan and Wa Municipal Assemblies to create the necessary platforms for information flow to build mutual understanding as well as promote the growth of the nation.
He explained that when people are well informed, it reduces blames and tensions thereby bridging the barriers in communication to achieve an informed society.
Mr. Acquaye mentioned that the programme is designed to bring together the media, Non Governmental Organizations, selected Assemblies and the citizens to enlighten them on information sharing for mutual development.
For his part, the District Co-ordinating Director, Mr. Innocent Haligah pointed out that, the era of imposing development projects on the citizenry is past adding that the inputs by the people is essential to the forward match of the Assembly.
He explained that in order to realize this goal, the Assembly has a website as well as a facebook account and periodically embarks on town hall meetings to interact with the people and solicit for their views to incorporate into the developmental plan of the District.
Mr. Haligah noted that the programme introduced by the MFWA is a step in the right move to compliment the Assembly’s efforts in reaching out to the people as well as to educate them on who and where to get the information needed.
The Project Manager for DW Akademie, Nana Sikaba King mentioned that the programme has a one week training session for the stakeholders to equip them well to share and use information wisely.
She, however, appealed to members to select time conscious personnel for the programme so that the necessary impact will be realized.
The meeting ended with the signing of an MoU by stakeholders to commit to ensuring the free flow of information from the Assemblies to the media and to the people.
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