Agona Swedru, Oct 18, GNA- Mr John Kwsei Agyabeng, District Chief Executive for Agona, has called on District Assemblies to foster closer relation with civil society to ensure good governance.

He said governance denote the responsive relation between the state, privets business sector and civil society to promote social justice, freedom, rule of law and respect for human rights. Mr Agyabeng who is also the Agona East NPP Parliamentary Candidate for the 2004 election was speaking at the inauguration of the Agona District Civic Union at Swedru.

The DCE stated that good governance thrives on efficient and effective decentralised management of public policies, in which the people are empowered to participate in decision-making to ensure economic growth.

He charged the Union to play a wider role as a participator in policy formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation in the development process.

Mr Agyabeng called for regular meetings between the District Assembly, Departments and NGOs to initiate projects to raise the living standards of the people.

The DCE charged the Union to monitor the expenditure and implementation of projects whether funded by the Assembly, government or NGOs.

Mrs Joyce Appiah, President of the National Advocacy and Good Governance, said the Union was to create awareness on effective democratic governance in the country.

She said the organization would also ensure accountability and transparency in all aspects of Ghanaian life to strengthen the capacity of Civil Society Organization (CSO) to influence decision at the district level.

Mrs Appiah stated that a programme has been launched to support Democratic Governance at the local level, explain and educate the people about the HIPC and Poverty Reduction strategies adopted by the government.

She commended members of the Agona District Civic Union for their unity of purpose and advised them not to politicise their activities to achieve their aims and objectives.