Four Hundred and Thirty-Two Community Facilitators have been recruited and employed through the Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion (SOCO) Project in beneficiary Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
Also, the Community Project Implementation Committee (CPIC) for 217 clusters of communities is formed under the project.
Hon. Daniel Botwe, Minister for Local Government, Decentralisation, and Rural Development, disclosed these at a Financial Management training at Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region for staff from MMDAs in the Upper East and North East.
The training was to prepare SOCO beneficiary district assemblies on the allocation and disbursement of funds and deepen their knowledge on key financial management areas of disbursement and funds flow, accounting and records keeping, documentation and reporting, internal controls and audit on the project.
Participants included District/Municipal Chief Executives, Municipal/District Coordinating Directors, Planning Officers/SOCO Focal Persons, Financial Officers, and Internal Auditors from SOCO Beneficiary MMDAs.
According to Hon. Botwe, field appraisal of 551 proposed sub-projects comprising culverts, community centres, youth centres, Schools, CHPS/Health Centres, Energy, Markets, Dams and Feeder Roads were prioritised under the project.
A total of 371 projects, made up of 168 boreholes (60 mechanised, 108 hand pump); 68 classroom blocks; 60 markets; 50 CHPS Compounds; and 51 roads subprojects, have passed the environmental and social safeguards screening as well as an appraisal for implementation.
He assured an increase in funding for the project next year after successfully implementing the year 2023 activities.
Hon. Stephen Yakubu, Upper East Regional Minister, was hopeful the project will improve regional collaboration and the socio-economic and climate resilience of the border communities in the targeted Northern Regions exposed to conflict and climate risks.
Hon. Yakubu described the theme for the workshop “Financial Management of Donor Funded Projects (IDA) within the Context of Current Public Financial Arrangement-the Case of the SOCO Project" as appropriate and key to the project’s success.
He lamented that some projects in the past suffered setbacks due to misappropriation and misapplications of funds, which he said would not happen under SOCO because the Regional Coordinating Councils would ensure the appropriate use of funds.
Describing the project as a game changer, Hon Stephens said the training would enlighten participants about the broad objectives of the financial management arrangements, processes and project controls.
The Financial Management training under the Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion Project (SOCO) is part of the components of the Project Implementation activities to build the capacity of implementers of beneficiary communities.
Source: PUBLIC RELATIONS UNIT (MLGDRD)