Civil Society And Budget Tracking In West Africa

Budget is undoubtedly the most important instrument in governance. For many analysts, the constitution is probably the only instrument that is superior.

With the need to properly plan, they see the budget as crucial to every human activity, especially the economy.

A nation without a budget, therefore, will be groping in the dark, as its activities will be haphazardly executed, if at all.

It is on that premise that ActionAid Nigeria, an NGO, last week engaged the legislature, civil society organisations (CSOs), political parties and other stakeholders in budget processes.

The two-day interactive session, held in Abuja, focused on budget advocacy for civil society activists from the West African sub-region.

Organised by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and funded by Action Aid International, the session drew participants from CSOs in Ghana, the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Senegal and host Nigeria.

A communiqué issued at the end of the event called on the CSOs to focus on the implementation of budgets as they affect the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in West Africa.
According to the participants, the attainment of the MDGs is central to the long-term development of countries in the sub-region.

The document was signed by Mr. Auwal Musa-Rafsanjani, the Executive Director of CISLAC, and Mrs. Lavina Banduah, the Executive Director, National Accountability Group of Sierra Leone.

It urged ECOWAS Parliament to inspire the establishment of more CSOs and encourage national legislatures to create more access by establishing CSO Liaison Offices.

The participants argued that such measures would facilitate effective interaction between the CSOs and the legislature on development issues.

They also called for regular interaction among civil society groups engaged in budget advocacy in West Africa as a means of sharing experiences in the respective countries.

Participants also urged CSOs and donor agencies to enhance the capacity of public officials at country level on how best to disseminate budget information.

They sought the passage of the Fiscal Responsibility and Legislative Budget Office legislation at all levels of governance in member countries to foster transparency and accountability.

The communiqué further suggested the organisation of town hall meetings at the village, ward, local government and state levels during the conception of budgets to engender popular participation in the process.

Participants recommended that national budget should be submitted to national parliament latest by May of every year while its processing should be seen as a national priority by the lawmakers.
Dr Bright Okogu, the Director-General of Nigeria’s Budget Office, in a keynote speech on the occasion, said that the 2009 budget process would begin before the end of July 2008.

He explained that the new budget process, known as the Medium Term Sector Strategy, was part of the Vision 2020 and the seven-point agenda of the administration.

Under that vision, the present administration plans to make Nigeria one of the top 20 economies of the world in the year 2020.

According to Okogu, the new strategy will reverse the top-down approach used in previous budget making and implementation.

He said that selected civil society groups, National Assembly committees, businessmen, bankers and other stakeholders would be part of the budget planning.

“What we insist on now and plan to do is that you must reach out to the people and get a feedback so that the budget can be more participatory,’’ he said.

Mr. Hussaini Abdu, the Action Aid International’s Governance Team Leader for Africa, in a remark, said the session was meant to widen the scope of budgeting in Africa.

He explained that the organisation introduced the Economic Literacy and Budget Accountability for Governance (EMBAG) to support civil society groups in Africa in enlightening the public on their roles in annual budget.

“We are doing the same programme in East and Southern Africa,’’ he noted, adding that the interaction could help to strengthen democracy on the continent.

The Clerk of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Dr Hezekiah Olutoye, in an overview of the budget process, said he was ‘’disappointed’’ in the quality of the lawmakers in the legislature.

“The way many of them behave in the National Assembly shows that they do not have a moral right to oversee the ministries and agencies.

“Unless the Budget Office Bill is passed, there will never be effective control over budget and its implementation in Nigeria,’’ he said, urging the CSOs to develop more interest in oversight functions.

For observers, the challenge posed by the regional meeting of the CSOs focusing on budget making and implementation is the need to boost awareness among the stakeholders.

To do this, they suggest more collaboration among CSOs from all ECOWAS countries concerned with budgetary issues.

And to do that more effectively, they call for capacity building programmes for public budget officers on the desire to make the process all-inclusive.

“Beyond aiding the attainment of the MDGs, a commitment to budgetary plans will accelerate the social, economic and political development of the peoples of the sub-region,’’ Mr. Jerome Andy, a banker says.

But while the CSOs and other stakeholders work toward effective budget monitoring, analysts suggest a need for the executive to respect such budgetary declarations.

They criticise the late release of budgetary allocations, as this has hampered the execution of projects aimed at national growth.

“Monies from budgets not released when expected are as good as not released because they cannot be effectively applied, and that will stall budgetary plans,’’ Mr. Frank Andau, an Abuja-based consultant, observes.

For him, the CSOs should not only beam their searchlight on the implementation, but also work toward timely release of the budget as this is crucial to the ultimate targets.

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