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Ho West scores 66% Citizens' Assessment of Assemblies Project in 2018

The Ho West District Assembly has scored 66 percent in the Citizens' Assessment of Assemblies Project for 2018, dropping from 88 percent in 2017.

Date Created : 3/19/2019 12:00:00 AM : Story Author : Sumaiya Salifu Saeed

This is contained in a document put together by Ghana's Strengthening Accountability Mechanisms (GSAM) at a Town Hall Meeting in the Assembly to bring to the fore some projects of the Assembly and their levels of completion.

The scoring, which was done by the citizens and the Global Action for Women Empowerment (GLOWA), a Non-Governmental Organisation every year, targets and assesses two capital projects in a selected district under (GSAM) funded by the United States Agency International Development (USAID).

The districts are assessed on Project Initiation and Planning (PIP), Contractor Selection and Contracting (CSC), Project Execution (PE), and Citizens' Perception of Project Benefits (CPPB).

In 2017, the district scored 88 percent for works done on its two-unit kindergarten blocks with ancillary facilities at Holuta and a Community-based Health Planning Services compound at Awudome Avenue.

The Assembly in 2018 was assessed based on the construction of a district fire service station at Dzolo Kpuita and the construction of a town council office at Awudome Tsito.

The fire station and town council were pegged at GHÂ¢291,995.76 and GHÂ¢108,409.77 with a construction period of between April to September 2018 and November 2015 to July 2016 respectively.

They were all to be funded by the Ho West District Assembly with funding from the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) but the projects were at various stages of completion.

The Assembly was scored 63 percent in PIP, 100 percent in CSC, 27 percent in PE, and 75 percent in CPPB.

In the Project execution analysis, it was scored on the basis of projects lagging behind or being stalled with the Assembly monitoring the projects periodically.

The Assembly scored a 100 percent in capturing the projects in its 2018 procurement plan and a fair process in its award of the contracts.

On the way forward, the Assembly was advised to call the contractors to the site as soon as funds were made available by June 2019, failure for which the contract would be abrogated and re-awarded.

The Assembly was also advised to make information on the projects readily available to the citizens and also brief contractors on the low scores.

The GSAM is a five-year social accountability project that seeks to strengthen citizens' oversight of capital projects to improve local government transparency, accountability, and performance in 100 districts across the country.