The one-day event, held in Wa, targeted the grassroots – to collate their views and opinions that these would be incorporated into the government’s annual financial statement.

This is seen as a better way of helping to address the poverty gap, improve local governance practice and to focus on priority sectors of the economy - education, health, agriculture, social protection and taxation.

SEND-Ghana’s Regional Programme Officer, Bashiru Jumah, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the sidelines of the meeting that, it aimed to improve the citizens’ participation in the budget preparation process.

The national budget required broader consultation with the various sectors of the economy and that inspired the holding of the regional forum. The organisation would prepare a report after similar consultations had been done in the other regions for submission to the Ministries of Education, Health, Finance and Gender, Children and Social Protection.

It would also be given to Ghana Education Service, Department of Social Welfare and Ghana Health Service to be integrated into their individual budgets. Stakeholders, who attended the forum called for the government to focus priority on pre-school education by committing substantial resources into that.

It should also move quickly to tackle inequalities in the health sector and give special incentives to motivate workers in deprived communities. They asked that essential drugs were made available to the health facilities and that, service providers should be promptly reimbursed by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).