The West Akyem Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) Mr Seth Oduro Boadu has called on Ghanaian to honour their obligations to the state.
Mr Boadu made the call during a Social Auditing Engagement Programme organised by the West Akyem National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) at Asamankese in the Eastern Region.
The MCE said payment of their taxes, levies, rates, duties and fees by citizens would fast-track development projects and programmes in the municipality.
The Municipal NCCE Director, Madam Modesta Annie Sapaty said Social Auditing was an opportunity offered participants to interact or have a public discourse with ''duty bearers'' to learn at first-hand, information about the plans, policies and efforts being made to address some of the peculiar or pertinent issues or concerns of participants.
Citizens participation in the affairs of governance and civil life, Madam Sapaty said, was one of the five key characteristics or features of democracy.
She said citizens involvement in governance and civil life was not limited to voting during elections or standing as a candidate for political life.
Rather Madam Sapaty said, it involved the ability and willingness by citizens to carefully watch how their leaders and representatives used their powers.
Not only that she said, citizens should be willing to express their own opinions and interests on issues of public concern, and play an advocacy role to ensure that favourable laws, policies and programmes were formulated and implemented both efficiently and effectively.
The Municipal Director of the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mr. Samuel Nana Wiafe briefed participants on the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) and admonished participants to report on acts of impropriety to CHRAJ or any of the anti-corruption state institutions like Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and the Ghana Police Service.
Nana Wiafe said the Whistle Blowers Act of Ghana provided ''non-disclosure'' of identity of the whistle blower and also had a reward package for the whistle blower.
Participants at the end of the social auditing identified poor sanitation, roads, indiscipline, the dire need for by-laws on ''streetism'' and poor drainage as the five top most issues of concern which needed urgent attention.
The social auditing was organised with a cross-section of the citizenry drawn from across the various identified groups including; Civil Society Organisations, Traditional Authorities and opinion leaders, Faith Based Organisations, local government authorities and other public institutions with sponsorship by the European union (EU).