2023 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"
17th Edition
Nikki: Public hearing for accountability
The experience proposed by the municipality of Nikki (Benin) is the organization of public hearings for accountability.
This practice is based on the texts governing decentralization in Benin which stated that “The commune constitutes the institutional framework for the exercise of grassroots democracy. It is the expression of decentralization and the privileged place for the participation of citizens in the management of local public affairs”. These texts also enshrine citizen participation as a success factor for decentralization, in line with the constitutional principle of the citizen's inalienable right to information. Aware of this, the Municipality of NIKKI organizes two public hearings each year for accountability in areas chosen by mutual agreement with civil society actors. Also called “Domestic Accountability”, accountability is both an obligation for elected officials and a right of citizens taken individually and collectively. The main objective of this activity is to improve the efficiency and performance of participatory democracy mechanisms.
It is conducted according to a methodology based on a participatory approach which starts from the sending of correspondence to the Citizen Participation Unit by the mayor for request for proposal of at least 3 themes to be the subject of accountability; the validation of the themes by the municipal council, the development of the ToR; communication development; the development of the timetable for passing through the boroughs; the conduct of the hearings themselves and the drafting of the report at the end of the debriefing session.
The innovations introduced by the municipality of Nikki in the organization of this experience are:
- The involvement of civil society in the identification of themes among which the municipal council chosen 2.
- The organization of the first reporting of the year in the boroughs allows the most remote populations of the town hall to be able to participate in discussions and give their points of view.
- The radio statement broadcast on the antennas of the local radio to invite all layers of the population at the level of the arrondissements to take part in the public hearings of accountability
- The coupling of the second rendering of accounts with the award ceremony for the best taxpayers of the year.
The process of organizing public accountability hearings in the municipality of Nikki requires the intervention of several actors mobilized through different channels for the total success of the activity.
This way of organizing reporting has made it possible, among other things, to:
- the populations to be informed of the achievements of the municipality in the sector subject to accountability
- the populations to better participate in the payment of the various local taxes and duties;
- to increase the level of mobilization of the municipality's own resources;
- to increase the financing capacity of the municipality;
- to review certain development strategies.
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