NPP criticises Kassena-Nankana West Accounting to the People Forum
Francis Bugase alleges the Assembly failed to provide a detailed breakdown of GH¢13 million reportedly received from the central government and says the NPP will use the Right to Information Act to seek expenditure records.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Communications Officer for the Chiana-Paga Constituency, Francis Bugase has criticised the Kassena-Nankana West District Assembly’s Accounting to the People Forum, describing the engagement as inadequate in providing a detailed account of public funds received and spent.
Speaking on the Big Mike Breakfast Show on Friday October 16, Bugase said the forum, held on October 9, failed to provide a comprehensive breakdown of funds received from the central government and how the money had been utilised.
According to him, proper accountability required the Member of Parliament (MP) and the District Chief Executive (DCE) to explain how public funds had been spent and how campaign promises had been fulfilled.
“Whatever came into the Assembly, the MP together with the DCE were supposed to tell us what they’ve used those funds for. That was what we were expecting of them,” he said.
Bugase argued that accounting to the people should go beyond announcing figures to providing clear explanations of how public resources had been utilised.
He cited figures presented at the forum, claiming that the Assembly had budgeted to receive GH¢18 million from the central government and had so far received GH¢13 million.
He said the Assembly failed to provide a detailed breakdown of how the GH¢13 million had been spent.
“They told us they had budgeted to receive GH¢18 million from the central government, which they have received so far GH¢13 million. They were supposed to tell us what the GH¢13 million has done, but they did not do the breakdown for us,” he stated.
Bugase also questioned the reported cost of dual desks supplied to schools, challenging the figures he attributed to the DCE regarding the allocation of education funds.
He maintained that the absence of detailed expenditure information undermined the purpose of the forum and called for greater transparency in the management of public funds.
The NPP communicator further accused the DCE of failing to acknowledge the party’s contribution to some development projects initiated under the previous NPP administration but subsequently completed and commissioned by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.
He said the omission denied the NPP recognition for projects it claimed to have initiated.
Bugase concluded that the forum had fallen short of the standards expected of a public accountability exercise, adding that the NPP would invoke the Right to Information Act to formally request a breakdown of expenditure on the projects presented at the forum.
The requested information, he said, would help the party establish how funds allocated to the reported projects had been utilised.
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