Community participation in local economic development leads to wealth creation

Adentan (GAR), May 22, GNA - Mr Felix Amakye, a Lecturer at the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS), has called for effective collaboration between duty bearers and the private sector to create employment opportunities for wealth creation.

Mr Amakye was addressing the second quarter forum of the Social Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (SPEFA) to discuss how local governments, businesses and other actors could join forces to stimulate economic growth.

It was attended by officials of the Adentan Municipal Assembly (AdMA), unit committee members, traditional authorities, traders, farmer and women's groups and persons with disability.

The forum, organised by Intervention Forum, a non-governmental organization, in collaboration with SNV Ghana and AdMA, focused on Local Economic Development (LED) in Ghana.

Mr Amakye said LED is the process by which local governments, local businesses and other actors joined forces and resources to enter into new partnership agreements to create jobs and stimulate economic activities in the municipalities, towns and villages.

'We should have a unique thing about our districts and support the economy to grow,'' he said, and called on the public to venture into small-scale businesses.

'We cannot wait on government; we need to start something and then call on government for support,'' he said, adding that assembly members, traditional authorities and other community leaders must spearhead the development process.

'We need to attract people to our community to develop it,'' he said, and called for synergy among local government authorities, the communities and the private sector to work in unison to generate employment to grow the economy.

Mr Joshua Elorm from the Intervention Forum, in an update on the first quarter of the SPEFA forum, said the Client Service Unit (CSU) of AdMA received 29 complaints in 2016 centering on education, construction of unauthorised structures, water, sanitation, and security, out of which 28 were resolved.

He expressed appreciation of the increased use of complaint forms by the public as they ensured the speedy resolution of issues with the exception of capital projects which took some time to resolve.

Madam Nora Ollennu, the Chief Executive Officer of Intervention Forum, and focal person for the Adentan Citizens Group, expressed appreciation to participants for their commitment to SPEFA's activities.

'While it is highly important that such local economic development efforts are encouraged and given maximum support they require, it is even more imperative that citizens, citizens groups, private sector entities and businesses, CSOs and traditional heads come together to build consensus and form further strategic alliances on local economic development.

'These will be to explore more concepts, local economic growth opportunities and mobilise even greater local resources towards achieving the economic empowerment of deprived communities, women, PWDs, the youth and the municipality as a whole in a sustainable manner,' she said.

Mr Kofi Simpeh, the Planning Officer of the AdMA, gave a brief overview of the assembly's mushroom project, dubbed; 'PROMUSH' being funded by the European Union (80 per cent) and implementing partners (20 per cent).

The project, which will run for three years, has already begun and aims at improving the mushroom industry to create jobs for women, youths and PWDs.

Mr Simpeh said the project was expected to benefit 3,000 women and 2,500 men and urged persons desirous of creating jobs for themselves to register with it.

GNA