The government has expressed commitment to strengthening the capacity of the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to collect, manage and use data for planning and budgeting.

The move is expected to help MMDAs to plan and forecast to respond to the aspirations and needs of the citizenry.

Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, the Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, said this in Accra at the launch and release of constituency profile reports on eight constituencies in the country.

The report was conducted by the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA) in partnership with the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) and On Think Tanks.

The constituencies are Akatsi North, Odododiodio, Ablekuma South, Okaikwei South, Amansie Central, Fanteakwa North, Ketu South, Sekyere East, Talensi, and Tano South.

The constituency profile is to explore existing administrative data to demonstrate the value of local data for local decisions.

The initiative is part of the Data for Accountability Project (DAP), a partnership which seeks to enhance the use of evidence in parliament, specifically, towards improving the capacity of Ghana’s legislature for monitoring the country’s progress on the SDGs.

The reports are created by using time-series data for a specific geographical area with information spanning health, education and district assembly budget allocation.

The motivation is to provide background or context to the development needs of constituencies for the MPs who represent them.

Excerpts of the report revealed that more than one-third of children in Akatsi North and Ketu South missed kindergarten education.

More than half of the population 12 years and above in Fanteakwa North, Tano South, Ketu South, and Sekyere East cannot read or write in any language.

Mr Ibrahim said evidence-based was the way to go and that the availability of the reports would improve policy formulation and planning to deliver socio-economic facilities in the MMDAs.

“I am also encouraged by the use of administrative data at the district level to inform the creation of these profiles.

It demonstrates the increasing alignment between central government structures and the decentralised entities we seek to contain,” he said.

The report, he stressed, would serve as a bridge to link the world of information at the district level to the national decision-making processes in Parliament.

He expressed worry about the inability of some constituencies to provide administrative data to GSS for the report and pledged to summon the 63 defaulting constituencies to justify their actions.

He announced that the parliamentary committees would rely on the report for their monitoring as prerequisite data in formulating a formula for disbursement of the common fund in parliament.

Mr Ibrahim urged all Members of Parliament whose constituencies were profiled to make use of the report and help in fostering local partnership, tracking constituency development indicators and engaging meaningfully with both citizens and local authorities.

Dr Rasheed Draman, the Executive Director of ACEPA, said the report would properly inform the MPs about key information in the constituencies for the necessary actions taken.

That, he explained, was necessary because representing the constituents in Parliament defined democracy and that decision-making must be premised on reliable data, not assumptions.

“We have to make our democracy data-driven so that when MPs meet for debate, they will rely on credible data for national policies,” he said.

He said the report was part of ACEPA’s contribution to national development to drive the culture to use data for decision-making.

Dr Alhassan Iddrisu, the Government Statistician, said the report would strengthen evidence of parliamentary oversight at the district level for timely response.

He said GSS was ready to work with other institutions to expand the research to other constituencies to enhance inclusive government.

Some of the MPs present commended the partners for the report and pledged to design timely interventions to address some of the challenges in their constituencies.