Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), have been urged to create more room for people at the grassroots level to participate in their budgetary process.
The District Budget Analyst of the Kassena-Nankana District in the Upper East Region, Mr Amadu Abubakari said this at Navrongo in the Upper East Region at a forum on "MMDAs Budgeting".
He expressed dissatisfaction about the low representation of community members in the budgetary process of the assemblies and said in some instances they were not invited at all.
Mr Abubakari said failure to invite the public and for that matter the people at the grassroots, was against the decentralization regulations of the assemblies.
He noted that community members owned the budget since it was the means through developmental projects were carried.
Mr Abubakari said many projects that were constructed by most Assemblies without involving the communities were either not in use or under utilized.
He said communities could contribute to the Mid Year Review of Annual Action Plan and Budgeting, Fee Fixing Resolution, Preparation of Community Area Plan, Public Hearing of District Assemblies' Plans and Budget.
"Assembly members alone do not truly reflect the representation of the needs and demands of the people. The views and suggestions of community members should also be given priority", he added.
He said that the Assembly stood a better chance of getting a good budget drawn up that could optimize the use of human resources, material and financial resources for economic growth, wealth creation and poverty reduction if they encouraged community members to actively participate.
The forum was sponsored by Ibis West Africa and facilitated by Foundation for Grassroots Initiatives in Africa (GrassRoots Africa), a Non Governmental Organization working in the Upper East Region to promote grassroots participation in decision making and to empower the marginalized in Society.