2021 Open Budget Survey: Ghana earns 56% to marginally improve transparency score

The Ministry of Finance has been urged to make available various budgetary statements to the public and involve citizens during the process to put together documents to ensure needs are factored in.

This is a recommendation in the country's 2021 Open Budget Survey (OBS) released by advocacy group, SEND Ghana in collaboration with the International Budget Partnership (IBP).

At an event in Accra on Thursday, July 28, organised by SEND Ghana to launch Ghana’s 2021 Open Budget Survey findings, it was revealed that the country’s Transparency score has reached 56% after appreciating by 2 percentage points in the past year,

In addition, the scores of 20% and 39% for the categories of Public Participation and Budget Oversight respectively are an improvement of the score from the last edition of the survey although it remains relatively low.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the launch event after presenting Ghana’s 2021 Open Budget Survey Findings, Mr. Godson Aloryito who is Budget Credibility Officer at the International Budget Partnership said the improvement in the scores is a good sign for Ghana.

He however advised that there should be more openness from the Ministry of Finance when it comes to matters of the country’s budget to involve the public more.

According to him, when that happens, Ghana’s score in the Open Budget Survey will continue to improve while citizens’ problems will also be addressed.

“In the Open Budget Survey 2021, one of the key findings for us is that Ghana improved marginally on transparency score from 54 out of 100 in 2019 to 56 in 2021. And so what that means is that the public has some level of information to engage about the budget. For best practice countries a score of 61 out of 100 and above is considered more ideal.

“We are urging government that though we have improved on our score marginally, there is a lot that can be done and that is what government must look it. We advise government to publish details of individual programmes and their budget allocations together with performance after execution,” Mr. Godson Aloryito told the media.

On his part, SEND West Africa's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Siapha Kamara explained his outfit’s continuous work on Ghana’s Open Budget Survey project, noting that the advocacy group wants to ensure issues confronting citizens are addressed.

Mr. Siapha Kamara

“For the past 10 years or so SEND Ghana supported by the International Budget Partnership has been doing the Open Budget Survey. We have been working closely with the Ministry of Finance and the objective is to increase transparency and accountability in our budget cycle.

“Ultimately it is to empower citizens to know more information about the budget processes so that they can be able to use the processes to contribute to ensuring that the budget addresses issues that matter to their lives,” Mr. Siapha Kamara told the media.

He urged the Finance Ministry to be more open about the country’s budget to promote healthy discussions that will be geared towards seeing to it that the citizenry enjoys the full benefits of inputs in the budget.

Sharing their thoughts at the launch, Mr. Lawrence Ndaago Ayagiba, Deputy Auditor-General, and Dr. Alex Amankwah-Poku both welcomed the findings and assured that the recommendations will be put to use.

Mr. Lawrence Ndaago Ayagiba in an appeal admonished Ghanaians to help his outfit execute its role.

He called on the citizenry to report abandoned projects through its CITIZENSEYE application platform for necessary actions to be taken.

About the Open Budget Survey:

The Open Budget Survey (OBS) is the world’s only independent, comparative, and fact-based research instrument that uses internationally accepted criteria to assess public access to central government budget information; formal opportunities for the public to participate in the national budget process; and the role of budget oversight institutions, such as legislatures and national audit offices, in terms budget process.

The Survey helps local civil society assess and confer with their government on the reporting and use of public funds. This 8th edition of the OBS covers 120 countries: