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Government asked to change language and format of budget

Posted On : 2009-03-27 16:17:51

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A new study dubbed
 "Building the Demand Side of Good Governance: Enhancing Conditions
 for Social Accountability in Ghana" has recommended that government
 should review the language and format of the national budget to make
 it simple for citizens to understand and participate in its formulation.
 The study said for instance instead of saying "macro economic indicators,"
 the budget should say "intended progress in human development outcomes."
 The study also said government should support civil society efforts
 such as those undertaken by Centre for Budget Advocacy (CBA) of the
 Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) to undertake independent
 budget analysis and to promote public understanding of budget content
 and key issues. 
 
 The study was undertaken
 by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) and the World Bank. According
 to the study, citizen's access to financial and budget information is
 particularly difficult and limited. This seriously hinders participatory
 budgeting, independent budget analysis and expenditure tracking. The
 study therefore recommended that government should make information
 and processes related to the national budget and expenditures more open
 and accessible. The government was also asked to make in-year reports,
 audit reports, Public Accounts Committee reports and reports on extra-
 budgetary activities available to the public. 
 The study further recommends that government should expedite the implementation
 of the 2003 Public Procurement Act including programmes for institution
 and capacity building as recommended in World Bank/IMF report of 2004.
 It urged government
 to introduce the requirement for public officials to declare their assets,
 form a task force of government and civil society representatives to
 explore ways for improving access to data on public transfers and expenditures
 in sectors of priority and public interest. 
 According to the
 CDD-WB study, it will be important for government to introduce formal
 mechanisms for citizens and Civil Society organizations to make input
 into budget policies and debate. "At the local level, government
 should continue to build upon piloting of composite budgeting and participatory
 budgeting process," the study said. 
 
 In a reaction to
 the research report, the head of the Budget Development Unit of the
 Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning Ms. Eva Mends said the doors
 of the ministry are always open to all those looking for information
 on the national budget. She said very few individuals and organizations
 have shown interest in contributing to the budget. She said each stage
 of the budget process is transparent and citizens as well as civil society
 groups can participate and send their contributions or seek information
 on it. Aside from that, she said the budget is sent to Parliament with
 detailed estimates, but neither the Civil Society organizations nor
 the media follow-up to pick up the issues for public discussion and
 debate. She admitted that although, the budget processes are technical,
 so much can be done to break down the technical aspects of it. Until
 public interest in the budget processes are whipped up, Ms. Mends said
 it would be difficult to build the demand side of good governance and
 social accountability. "While acknowledging that a lot needs to
 be done, we should also try and build the capacity of the public to
 participate in the budget processes," she said. 
 
 A policy Analyst
 with the CBA, Nicholas Adamtey said over the past five or six years,
 the Centre has been working on the national budget, analyzing it and
 involving citizens in budget debate. He said there are other offices
 in the Ministry where it is difficult to access information and this
 discourages the public from taking part in the budget processes. Mr.
 Adamtey said access to information in the districts is very difficult
 and called on the Ministry of Finance to simplify ways of getting access
 to financial information in the districts. 
 Speaking at the
 Stakeholder Review Workshop on the study, the Executive Director of
 CDD Ghana Prof. Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi said it is clear that there has
 been considerable progress in fostering public accountability in Ghana
 since the return to democratic rule under the constitution of the Fourth
 Republic. However he said few will deny that serious deficits remain
 in national efforts to institutionalize public accountability. "The
 deficits are severe especially in the demand side of accountability
 which is a necessary complement to the supply side as enshrined in the
 1992 Constitution." According to him, the 1992 constitution supplies
 a good framework for public accountability but there is insufficient
 citizen demand on state institutions and officials accountability. "This
 is where social accountability comes in, it is a fancy term describing
 citizen actions to secure accountability on the part of the state and
 its agencies and officials," Prof. Gyimah-Boadi said. 
 
 The research report
 was developed and produced by the Participation and Civic Engagement
 Group of the World Bank with guidance and contribution by Beatrix Allah-Mensah
 and Kofi Marrah both of World Bank Ghana office and Carmen Monico. The
 country research for the study was undertaken by the CDD under the leadership
 of Prof. Gyimah Boadi. 
 
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Story by : Steve M.