Community participation in the Ghana poverty reduction strategy in the Twifu-Heman-Lower Denkyira District

Abstract

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in 1999 approved the Poverty Reduction Strategies Paper (PRSP) approachto reducing poverty for the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC). One of the underlying principles of the PRSP is participation of key actors. Using the ladder of citizen participation framework, the paper investigates the levels of participation of key community partners in the implementation of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (GPRSP) which was produced in 2003. A total of 406 questionnaires were administered to sampled heads of households in six communities chosen from the Twifu-Heman Lower Denkyira District in the Central Region of Ghana. The chi-square and the K-Means cluster statistical techniques were used to analyze the data. In general, citizens described their participation in the implementation of the GPRSP as non-participation. The cluster analysis showed a significant relationship between cluster membership and the geographical location of respondents. The perception on participation of other key community partners in the GPRSP varied. For instance, participation of the District Assembly members was perceived as citizen power, while participation of traditional authority and unit committee members were considered as non-participation and tokenism respectively