Assembly and Unit Committee members of Asokore Mampong Municipality have received training on how to effectively conduct Social Audit.
Training of the duo was held separately; the former (Civil Society Organizations inclusive) on Monday 21st June 2021 and that of the latter organised on 22nd June 2021, all under the able auspices of the European Union funded Project- No Business as Usual (NBU).
Participants were drawn from the 15 electoral areas of the Municipality and rolled unto the training which was pivoted on enhancing their capacity so as to be able to carry out social audit of developmental projects and initiatives as a means of promoting social accountability.
They were empowered with the requisite skills and techniques on how to verify, measure and report on developmental projects.
Organizers (NBU Executives) and facilitator Kenneth Kwame Kankam (Researcher-KNUST) took them through practical demonstration in developing a framework to monitor and assess developmental projects.
In his presentation Kenneth Kankam took them through audit and types of audit, concept of social audit, social audit principles, processes for undertaking social audit, associated challenges among others.
Touching on some of the gaps, he brought to light in an exclusive interview with www.leakynews.net on the sidelines that majority of Ghanaians do not take social audit as a key subject.
He gave explanations that people mostly focus on financial audit because “they think that after providing the facilities or developmental interventions for the people that is all…but the focus should be on the effectiveness, processes and approach instead of the cost element alone”.
“In accessing value for money, you need social audit to really understand that the benefits were indeed beneficial to the people”, he added.
Hajia Aminata Ibrahim (Executive Officer for Empowerment for Women and Children) who partook in the first training applauded organizers for holding the training.
She indicated how the event polished her understanding on social audit, saying that ” I have now realized that auditing is not a responsibility reserved solely for auditors but every member or resident of a community can carry out social auditing”.
Source; www.leakynews.net