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News |
Friday, March 11, 2016 |
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ISODEC calls for budget transparency,
accountability
Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Ghanadot
Accra, March 15, Ghanadot - The Integrated Social
Development Centre (ISODEC), a Non-Governmental Organisation
(NGO), has called on the government, legislature, Supreme
Audit Institutions (SAIs) and donors to take action to
ensure budget transparency and accountability.
ISODEC also demanded urgent improvements in public access to
budget information. A Budget Analyst at the Centre for
Budget Advocacy of ISODEC, Mr. Nicholas Adamtey made the
call in Accra at the launch of 2008 Open Budget Index (IBO),
in which Ghana scored 49% out of 85 countries across the
world.
Ghana’s score on the OBI shows that the government provides
the public with some information on the central government’s
budget and financial activities during the course of the
budget year. This makes it cumbersome for citizens to hold
government accountable for its management of the public’s
money.
The Open Budget Index 2008 evaluates the quantity and type
of information that governments make available to their
publics in the eight key budget documents namely, pre-budget
statement, executive’s budget proposal, citizens budget,
enacted budget, in-year reports, mid-year review, end-year
report and audit report that should be issued during the
budget year.
One of the most important documents is the Executive’s
budget proposal, which should contain the executive’s plans
for the upcoming year along with the cost of the proposed
activities.
The proposal should be available to the public and to the
legislature prior to being finalized, at least three months
before the start of the budget year to allow for sufficient
review and public debate.
In Ghana, the executive’s budget proposal provides
substantial information to the public, meaning citizens have
a fairly comprehensive picture of the government’s plans for
taxing and spending for the upcoming year.
However, Mr. Adamtey intimated that it is rather difficult
to track spending, revenue collection and borrowing during
the year.
He added that Ghana publishes fairly detailed in-year
reports, but the government does not publish a mid-year
review.
The Budget Analyst stressed that publishing the mid-year
review would strengthen public accountability, saying ‘it
would provide a more comprehensive update on how the budget
is being implemented during the year’.
It is also difficult to assess budget performance in Ghana
once the budget year is over. A year-end report is not
published, preventing comparisons between what was budgeted
and what was actually spent and collected at the end of the
year.
Also, Ghana does not make its audit report public and does
not provide any information on whether the audit report’s
recommendations are successfully implemented.
Indeed, access to the highly detailed budget information
needed to understand the government’s progress in
undertaking a specific project or activity remains limited.
Ghana, after 50 years of independent has yet to codify the
right to access government information into law.
Amazingly, Ghana’s parliament does not hold hearing on the
budget in which the public can participate and also the
budget is full of figures and statistics which are nuisance
to the public.
To this end, the Executive Director of the ISODEC, Mr..
Bishop Akolgo advised the government to disseminate budget
information in forms and through methods and media that are
understandable to the wider population.
This he noted should include disseminating information
through radio or other broadcast media, and in languages
spoken by the majority of the population.
Ghanadot
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ISODEC calls for budget
transparency, accountability
Accra, March 15, Ghanadot - The Integrated Social
Development Centre (ISODEC), a Non-Governmental
Organisation (NGO), has called on the government,
legislature, Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) and
donors to take action to ensure budget transparency and
accountability.
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