Story by So Abapa Boateng, Nkoranza

Members of Leadership Committees in ten communities in the Nkoranza South Municipality, in the Bono East Region of Ghana, have pledged their commitment to lead their communities to create community development proposals to achieve a communal development vision.

The Leadership Committee members held a meeting last week in Nkoranza to deepen their knowledge of the Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP), also known in Ghana as Oman Yie Die.  FCAP is a methodology that helps communities articulate a development vision, gain skills to implement that vision, and pursue projects consistent with that vision in a transparent and inclusive manner.  They vowed to leave no stone unturned to solidify their commitment by hard work and perseverance in the execution of the task ahead.

Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA), a non-profit-making organization that helps West African communities that are threatened by the destructive impacts of extractive projects to take control of their futures, is partnering with the Nkoranza South Municipal Assembly to roll out Oman Yie Die in ten communities in the Municipality: Asuano, Akuma, Abuontem, Akumsa Domase, Bredi No. 1, Bonsu, Barnufour, Brahoho, Kyekyewere and Nkwabeng.

The FCAP Leadership Committee members and a selection of officers from the Nkoranza South Municipal Assembly Planning, Social Welfare and Community Development, and Works and Engineering Departments met to discuss strategic ways that they could support the Oman Yie Die development processes in their various communities. They also reviewed steps for the proposal development subphase of the FCAP and the various roles the Leadership Committee can play to make this sub-phase successful.

The Leadership Committee members will use the information shared during this meeting to guide their chiefs, elders, and community members on the proposal development sub-phase and support community-based facilitators to implement FCAP activities.

As part of the meeting, the participants were taken through different leadership styles and how that can impact the Oman Yie Die in terms of participation and the mobilization of the needed resources for the chosen community development pathways.  They also discussed procurement processes, implementation action plans and budgeting, maintenance plans, transparency and accountability, cost tracking and how to request micro-grants.

Smooth implementation

For the smooth implementation of Oman Yie Die in Ghana, each partner community has elected a team of a five-member or seven-member leadership committee to spearhead the FCAP implementation process.

Each of the ten communities was represented at the meeting by the chairperson, secretary and treasurer of the FCAP Leadership Committee.

These proposal development sub-phase meetings will last for two months, after which the communities will be able to begin implementation of their community development projects.