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The Imperative of E - Participation in Sustainable Community Development in Ghana
Abstract
The study examines some relevance of e- participation in achieving sustainable community development in Ghana. Information and Communication Technology has created an avenue to promote participation, transparency and trust when adopted by government. As a newly discovered political tool, ICT serves as a toolbox for reaching out and engaging the public on governmental policies thereby drawing government closer to citizens in policy and decision making. Through the use of secondary data, the study highlights the necessity for ICT and mostly importantly e-participation adoption in local government administration in Ghana. Citizens having enough access to their elected representatives and some basic public services through the provision of information communication and technology ensures effective and efficient communication between the government and the people at the local level, while it also provides a door for the citizens to receive feedbacks from the right local government quarters. The study concludes that e- participation enhances effective and efficient government service delivery and enhancing citizen’s active participation in local governance to ensure sustainable development.
The paper recommends that the in other to ensure active participation of citizens, government should provide the necessary infrastructure and fast track the adoption of ICT and also the training of local government personnel in the art of e- participation through which sustainable community development can be fully attained in Ghana
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5296/jpag.v7i4.12197
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