'Development Partners, a blessing to my Community' - District Head

His Highness, Mr Haruna Kuye (3rd left, middle roll) flanked by the visitors and village heads

The District Head of Gidan Zaki, His Highness, Mr Haruna Kuye  has given kudos to members of the civil society, for positively touching the lives of his people, through frequent capacity building  in governance processes, thereby empowering his community in the area of tracking and monitoring government projects.

"Work began sometime ago in my community and no one had information on the details of the project. I mobilized and led a small team to engage and inquire from the client and contractor the details of the project. Now we know the kilometers of the road to be constructed. I am grateful to participate in Open Government Partnership with regard to Local Government Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability engagements; without which we would not have had any idea by now on the ongoing governance reforms in Kaduna State.", he disclosed.

He stated this while receiving members of the civil society in his palace during a recent visit to sensitize the Atyap traditional council on how to increase community participation in governance. 

The team led by Mr Yusuf Goje, Head Governance and Advocacy of the Coalition of Associations for Leadership, Peace, Empowerment and Development (CALPED, told Kuye and the village heads that "the quality of citizen's demand determines the quality of service delivery to the community". 

While pointing out that the ongoing governance reforms by the state government to improve and deepen citizen's participation would not work until rural communities are empowered to meaningfully engage with stakeholders and government as the case may be, Goje pledged that CALPED as an organization with bias in good governance and rural development, would not hesitate to support the district in capacity building when called upon.

CALPED's Head, Social and Entrepreneurship Development, Mr Dangwa Danjuma, emphasized that a hand holding approach is required to aid rural communities take up ownership of governance, especially service delivery. He then presented community development associations registration forms under the Ministry of Rural & Community to  Kuye in response to an earlier request.

In attendance were eleven village heads in the district who committed to work with CALPED in their respective communities so as to stimulate citizens' participation in governance in the district.