Accra, Nov. 20, GNA - Mr Suleimana Braimah, the Executive Director of Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), has urged metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) to build good rapport with the media to enable them to propagate their good works.
He said many a time, the problems that the MMDCEs encountered in their efforts to improve the living conditions of their people came from misconception of misuse of monies by the MMDCEs which, sometimes media houses, especially radio stations, bought into.
Mr Braimah said this on Tuesday in Accra in his address at a special Experience-Sharing Forum for 20 MMDCEs.
He explained that because of this misconception the communal spirit with which some projects were executed by the people in past was no longer existent.
He appealed to journalists to uphold the ethics of their profession by disseminating accurate and reliable information to the people.
Mr Braimah said the MFWA was building the capacity of broadcast journalists in some selected districts to enhance their reportage.
He said they were also helping assemblies in their project areas to develop their communications strategy documents, which would be used to inform the people.
He appealed to the MMDCEs to make the time to meet the people to inform them on their programmes, achievements and challenges, and take feedback.
Mr Braimah said functional local government systems thrived in the setting where authorities were accountable, transparent and responsive while citizens were informed and take active participation in decision making.
The forum also brought together representatives from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, the Local Government Services Secretariat and the Institute of Local Government Studies to deliberate on key issues aimed at improving citizens’ access to information.
It provided an opportunity for participants to share knowledge on communication and public outreach efforts aimed at promoting citizen’s engagement in local governance.
The Experience-Sharing Forum forms part of a project being implemented by the MFWA in collaboration with DW Akademie aimed at increasing citizens’ access to information and encouraging their participation in development issues in selected metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs).
Dr Kwesi Jonah, the Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Democratic Governance, said the media had become another theatre for political struggle and it was very important for the MMDCEs to understand the challenge.
“It is important to know that the cornerstone for good governance is accountability. Let them attack you but be transparent and accountable,” Dr Jonah urged the MMDCES.
“So your main weapon should be more transparency, more accountability, and then you will see that it doesn’t matter who attacks you, you will have the people on your side.”
Mrs Abigail Larbi Odei, the Programme Manager of MFWA, said in instances where district chief executives were at loggerheads with particular radio stations, the Foundation had mediated to bring the situation to normalcy.
Madam Fati Lily Soale, the Head of Accountability Unit, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, lauded the MFWA for taking the initiative to promote citizen engagement.
GNA
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