Fanteakwa North with its capital Begoro in the Eastern Region has emerged as the first district among four participating assemblies to fully pay its counterpart funding for all six communities implementing the Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP).
The monies have been deposited in communities’ bank accounts, which is solely managed by the communities as part Oman yie die (FCAP) requirement. This is the first time ACA has witnessed a district assembly contributing ahead of project implementation since its partnerships with local government in the past 9years.
Fanteakwa North District Chief Executive, Osumanu Abubakar
This development is a strong demonstration of the Assembly’s commitment to community-led development and improving living conditions in the district’s rural communities
The six communities namely Aburso, Akoradarko, Asirebuso, Dedeso, Gyeduakro and Troameleveme are part of a new batch of 100 communities in the Eastern and the Bono East Region being brought under FCAP through an expansion involving Fanteakwa North, Abuakwa South, Abuakwa North, Suhum and Nkoranza South.
FCAP is a partnership involving Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA), local government authorities and beneficiary communities, with the aim of enabling communities to identify and implement projects that address their most pressing development needs.
Under the initiative, ACA provides each beneficiary community with a microgrant of US$8,000, while the participating District Assembly is expected to provide a cedi equivalent of US$1,000 as counterpart funding.
In Fanteakwa North, the District Assembly, under the leadership of the District Chief Executive, Osumanu Abubakar, has provided GH¢12,000 for each of the six participating communities, bringing its total counterpart contribution to GH¢72,000.
The payment has been made even though the communities are still going through the FCAP process and have yet to identify, prioritise and agree on the specific projects they intend to undertake.
The early commitment by the Assembly is therefore being viewed as an indication of confidence in the process and willingness to support community-led solutions to local development challenges.
Joseph Obeng, ACA’s Community Trainer for Fanteakwa North, said both the communities and the Assembly had demonstrated a high level of seriousness towards the FCAP process.
“Communities as well as the local Assembly have attached all seriousness to the process,” he said.
According to him, the Assembly’s decision was particularly significant because the district had limited internally generated funds, making opportunities such as FCAP important avenues for attracting additional resources for community development.
He noted that participation in community meetings had been encouraging, with residents showing growing interest in the process and beginning to mobilise resources from within their communities.
“Some communities have started mobilising resources internally to add up to the microgrant to help adequately address their needs,” Mr Obeng said.
The development is expected to further strengthen collaboration between the District Assembly and communities as they progress towards the selection and implementation of their priority projects.
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