He explained that, through effective coordination among those who would want to see accountability within the sector, the strengthened platform would be used as the mouthpiece for them in the expenditure of the commodity.

He also called on Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to play a crucial role by broadening their efforts, putting pressure on government and making it accountable on how best the oil money could be used toward the development of citizens and the country as a whole.

Mr Kamara said these at a national stakeholder’s dialogue on the utilization of the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) for specific projects held in Accra on Tuesday.  He remarked that lack of political leadership in the prioritisation of projects in the country was a major setback confronting the leaders and citizenry.

“Until we get leaders in Ghana who will put projects ahead, especially prioritizing the use of oil, we will always engage. “But coming together as CSOs and focusing the discussion and championing the real look of oil issues on how to use additional resources through coordinated efforts, we will make head way,” he said.

“We in SEND and others who form the oil platform will coordinate and have researches that will help make this goal worthwhile,” he said.  The ABFA, which was organised by SEND-GHANA and sponsored by OXFAM America, brought together CSOs, representatives from the various ministries, policy makers, researchers and development partners to discuss findings on the research report on the utilization of the ABFA for specific projects.

Presenting findings on the ABFA, Ms Rachel Gyabah, Programmes Officer for SEND-Ghana, noted that, based on the five projects the team tracked in Northern Ghana with focus being on Agriculture and education, it was revealed that community members were not involved in decision making and had limited knowledge on the funds for the projects.

She therefore recommended the involvement of the citizenry in decision making, as that would promote extensive decentralization and allow citizens to monitor projects, encourage ownership and ensure the promotion of good governance. Some participants who spoke with the Ghana News Agency called for effective decentralization system in the country.