By Lizzy Carr
As preparation for the Bauchi State 2024 proposed Budget takes center stage, the State Government, with support from the United States Agency for International Development’s funded State Transparency, Accountability and Effectiveness Activity (USAID State2State) has presented, to the public, another initiative of getting citizens inputs into the proposed budget.
The innovation, which comes in the form of a Template known as the Community Charter of Demand (CCD), will give citizens the chance to come together within their respective communities and list their priority needs with a view to having it incorporated into the 2024 proposed state budget.
The CCD template was officially presented to the public by the Permanent Secretary Bauchi State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Idris Sale in Misau during the ongoing Bauchi State budget public hearing held on Wednesday, September 6th.
Presenting the CCD template to community/religious leaders, CSOs, FBOs, and Local Government officials at the hearing, Sale Giade said that, it is another avenue for citizens of the State to articulate their needs in order of priorities.
The Permanent Secretary said that this singular act of making the CCD template available to citizens has further given credence to Governor Bala Mohammed’s quest for productive citizen engagement and ownership aimed at entrenching good governance in conducting Government activities and programs.
Sale then called on citizens of the State to avail themselves of the opportunity by highlighting key areas of their needs while filling the CCD template.
He also commended USAID State2State for their continued support in providing technical assistance to Bauchi State, and in particular, for developing the maiden edition of the CCD template which, according to him, will no doubt enhance citizen’s engagement before, during, and after the proposed budget has been passed into law.
Earlier on, while presenting the Community Charter of Demand (CCD) templates to the Permanent Secretary for onward distribution to participants, State2State’s Citizens Engagement Specialist, Habila Salem informed the gathering that the CCD template was designed in a user-friendly manner for ease of understanding by citizens.
Salem further revealed that the templates were designed using both the English Language and Hausa dialect for maximum understanding, productive input, and further engagement for tracking purposes.
Salem then urged citizens of the state to come together at the community level and identify what their needs are and then indicate it in the CCD template that would be collated by the Government for possible inclusion into the budget.
Reacting to the development, a participant from the Northern Senatorial Zone who also doubled as the chairperson of a CSO known as Community Women Assistance, Ummi Ya’u described the CCD initiative as innovative, stressing that it will increase citizen’s participation in the budget process.
She said her organization will leverage the opportunities provided by the CCD initiative to transmit their priority needs to the Government.
Ya’u also pledged to further enlighten other key stakeholders on the existence of the CCD template so that more citizens could be part of the budget processes.
Our correspondent observed the active participation of the public during the exercise and the enthusiasm demonstrated by the participants over the unveiling of the CCD template.
The public hearing is been conducted at the three senatorial zones of the State.
