Community Based Organizations in Kaduna have called on the Kaduna state government to update and make procurement data and records of the 2020 fiscal year available for citizens to participate in budget implementation phase in Kaduna State.
This was the consensus at an event to strengthen the capacity of community based organizations organized in Kaduna by a coalition of CSO.
A participants, Sarafa Musa, who applauded the innovation that the Kaduna state government introduced to get the people involved in the procurement process already said, “I have seen projects that were carried out for past year budgets in the various platforms introduced but I can’t find the ones on the 2020 budget in the state”,
Bello Ali, a Community Development Charter (CDC) Champion, hinted that: ‘After the CDC exercise where we guided communities on identifying their priority needs that will inform the 2020 budget in the state, we have been at loss as to the next steps we need to take to ensure social accountability. With this new knowledge on the procurement process, the information in each phase and basic skills for reporting we can now take initiative and help provide feedback to the government on projects in our communities.’
“With the budget now at the implementation phase it is important to inform and expose communities to tools that will help them monitor and evaluate and provide project reports to relevant stakeholders through a process that will improve social accountability” says Dangwa Abbas Danjuma, a facilitator at the event.
Participants were also trained by Ehis Agbon of Ground Zero Radio on on Development Reporting. The learnt how to identify news worthy items in their communities, how to report it and how to avoid some legal land mines in the cause of reporting developmental issues in their community.
The event, which held in Nassarwa, a sub urban community in Kaduna, was facilitated by Coalition of Associations for Leadership, Peace, Empowerment and Development (CALPED); Ground Zero Radio; Impact Life 360 Degree; National Accord; and Connected Development drew participants from community based organizations and other civil society organizations from within Kaduna state.
