The Tamale Ecclesiastical Province Pastoral Conference (TEPPCON) made the proposition during a Town Hall Meeting for vulnerable groups and duty bearers in two districts in the Upper East Region, as part of efforts to promote good participatory governance at the local level.

The meeting, held at Fumbisi in the Builsa South District,brought together women, youth and Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) from the District and the Kassena-Nankana Municipal created a platform for the socially excluded to interact with duty bearers on the implementation of the social intervention programmes.

The programme was part of a project dubbed, "Strengthening citizen participation in local governance in the Tamale Ecclesiastical Province," being implemented by TEPPCON and sponsored by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), a German Non Governmental Organization (NGO).

The pilot project which sought to address issues of weak and low involvement of vulnerable groups in major decision making processes covered 10 administrative districts in the five Catholic Dioceses including Tamale, Yendi, Damongo, Wa and Navrongo-Bolgatanga.

The programme further saw the launching of a manual for good governance and development at the local level, representing a framework for civic education.

Mr Alfred Ndago, Chairman of TEPPCON, stated that the Catholic Church over the years had not only worked to propagate the Gospel but had contributed to promoting peace, justice and development for the wellbeing of mankind.

He said the poverty cycle and inequalities in the northern part of the country were being worsened due to the lack of information hence the platform to create a dialogue between citizens and local government authorities.

He said the marginalized such as women, youth and PWDs were mostly affected when it came to decisions on development and added that their views were mostly not considered in the formulation of policies.

Mr Ndago explained that the project sought to strengthen the capacity of citizens particularly the vulnerable groups to participate fully in local governance by demanding accountability from political and administrative leaders.

Speaking on behalf of Most Reverend Alfred Agyenta, the Bishop of Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese, Reverend Father John Kantongi Kanzire, the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocesan Partnership Coordinator of the project, stated that Town Hall Meetings were organized in order make the citizens know their rights and enable the leadership of the assemblies account for their stewardship.

Mr Mahama Bukari Mumuni, the Builsa South District Coordinating Director, explained that development was a collective responsibility and applauded TEPPCON for creating the platform for the assemblies to explain issues to the citizenry concerning their operations.

Various departments of the assemblies including Social Welfare and community development, National Youth Authority, Business Advocacy Centre and the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) among others participated in the meeting and gave accounts of their social intervention programmes.