Stakeholders in Builsa South District schooled on the importance of social auditing

Stakeholders drawn from the Builsa South District of the Upper East Region have been schooled on the importance of social auditing to national development.

The forum , organized by the National Commission For Civic Education(NCCE) at the Fumbisi community in the District and sponsored by the European Union formed part of the Accountability, Rule of Law and Anti-corruption Programme (ARAP) and the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (2012-2020) (NACAP ) campaign .

It brought together Chiefs, Opinion leaders, Persons with disabilities (PWDs) , Civil Society Organization’s, Students and Teachers, Assembly Members, District Assembly and selected Heads of Department.

Schooling the participants on the relevant of the subject matter on Saturday , the District Director of NCCE in charge of the Builsa South District, Alhaji Alhassan Bukari, explained that social audit is an in-depth scrutiny and analysis of any public utility vis-a-vis its social relevance.

The Director who encouraged the stakeholders to always participate in the social auditing process in their respective jurisdiction, told them that social audit is also a tool which citizens could use to promote and demand accountability from duty bearers.

“The concept also promotes citizens participation in local governance as well as promote transparency and accountability and you must all get involved in the process as major stakeholders in development”, he stressed.

Alhaji Alhassan told them that to enable them participate actively in the process, they ought to be more assertive about their rights to be informed and to influence government’s decision making process.

The Director stressed that social audit was not meant to victimize anybody duty bearer or an organization but to monitor and verify the performance claims of organizations and institutions in which hands responsibility are entrusted with.

“ When leaders are made to understand that citizens are monitoring their actions and inactions in office, then they have no option than to be responsible in their roles as leaders and duty bearers. Social auditing is a way of measuring the extent to which an organization lives up to its shared values and objectives it has committed itself to”, he stressed.

Alhaji Alhassan added that the foremost principle of Social audit is to achieve continuously improved performances in relation to the chosen social objective and said there was the need for it to be conducted regularly instead of only when there are problems about an organization’s conduct or the duty bearer.