BudgIT Ghana empowers communities with Tracka accountability tool

BudgIT Ghana, a civic-tech group driving accountability, transparency, and active cit­izenship for equitable governance, has embarked on with nationwide impactful community engagements to empower the citizens with the skills, information and knowledge to hold duty bearers accountable for efficient service delivery.

This follows the launch of an accountability tool called TRAC­KA, an online platform where citizens can track and report on government-funded initiatives in their communities to promote and ensure efficient public service delivery, a statement from BudgIT copied the Ghanaian Times said.

So far, the team had had a town hall meeting and engagements with communities in Dzodze, Volta Region; Nkwanta-Brewaniase, Oti Region and Nkawkaw in the East­ern Region

BudgIT Ghana introduced Trac­ka, its flagship public project track­ing tool, which empowers citizens to monitor government projects and demand transparency.

These engagements, which are a part of the Hewlett Founda­tion-supported Empowering Active Citizens with Tools of Account­ability initiative, underscored the importance of civic participation, community leadership, and grass­roots advocacy in driving national development.

In Dzodze, residents from dif­ferent socioeconomic backgrounds, including youth, women, men, students, and business owners, convened for a town hall meeting focused on community leadership and civic participation.

The session was highly interac­tive, with participants asking perti­nent questions and making recom­mendations to the government and other stakeholders. Discussions revealed a society willing to hold leaders accountable and decide its future trajectory.

In Nkwanta-Brewaniase, the conversation took an urgent tone as residents shared troubling accounts of governance gaps. During the Tracka presentation, participants disclosed an incom­plete boys’ dormitory project in their community, where alarmingly, they had been pressured to sign paperwork falsely confirming the project’s completion.

This disclosure sparked a heated debate about systemic account­ability lapses, with citizens urging BudgIT to spotlight their chal­lenges, which include poor road networks and near-total telecom­munication dead zones that cripple daily life and commerce.

At Nkawkaw in the Eastern Region, the residents were empow­ered to actively monitor govern­ment projects and advocate for accountability.

The session tackled issues such as uncompleted infrastructure and provided participants with practical tools to track and report public ini­tiatives, fostering greater transpar­ency and civic engagement.

BudgIT Ghana will be in Tamale in the Northern Region to execute similar activities under the project. These engagements illustrate the importance of civic education in

empowering Ghanaians to ad­vocate for their rights and demand better and more efficient public

service delivery.

BudgIT Ghana provides com­munities with service delivery monitoring tools such as Tracka, creating an environment for trans­parency and giving underserved and underrepresented groups a voice. These calls to action from the communities and pleas to address uncompleted projects, infrastructural Deficits and fraud­ulent practices highlight the need to ensure that public resources are managed and used efficiently and equitably.

BudgIT Ghana remains commit­ted to bridging the information and engagement gap between

citizens and government by amplifying grassroots voices and promoting a culture of accountability.

These forums and discussions demonstrate the transformative potential of informed and active citizenship in building a more equi­table and transparent society

 BY TIMES REPORTER