- A watch appreciated by the municipal authority of Houndé
- In Soaw, it drews attention to the quality of the infrastructure
- The 2 communes are in urgent need of boreholes
Since the operationalisation of the Local Development Mining Fund (LDMF) in 2019, its use is subject to certain rules. The LDMF is intended to finance communal development plans. These plans must prioritise investments in the social sectors of health, education and drinking water. It is with a view to taking into account possible abuses in the use of LDMF resources that the Dialogue and Citizen Watch Committees (Comités de Dialogue et de Veille Citoyenne, CDVC) have been set up in the communes of Houndé and Soaw. Their role is to ensure the proper use of public finances in general, but of the local development mining fund in particular. The CDVCs have many means of action, including awareness-raising on citizen watch.
They are supported by Oxfam in the framework of the project “For a programme to strengthen citizen participation and accountability in public finance management”, funded by the HEWLETT Foundation.
As part of the implementation of the project, OXFAM and its partners ORCADE, CERA/FP and RECIBOG organised from 8 to 11 May 2023 a press trip with Journalists’ Actions on Mining in Burkina Faso (Actions des Journalistes sur les Mines au Burkina Faso, AJM-BF), an association of journalists involved in monitoring policies on the extractive sector. The press trip was organised in the communes of Houndé and Soaw. The aim was to allow journalists to exchange with the CDVCs of Houndé and Soaw and to see at first hand the achievements made with the resources of the local development mining fund.
Citizen watch in Houndé: a textbook case
The commune of Houndé has received more than 7 billion FCFA from the LDMF since 2019. The CDVC of the commune of Houndé is distinguished by its effective monitoring of the proper allocation and use of LDMF resources.
In the area of health, the Houndé Dialogue and Citizens’ Watch Committee took journalists to the village of Dankari, located on the National Road 1 leading to Bobo-Dioulasso. A health and social promotion centre (Centre de santé et de promotion sociale, CSPS) has been set up there. If the local residents who were delighted with the establishment of this jewel of more than 96 million FCFA, they were quickly disappointed. They are still waiting for its official opening since the end of the construction of the buildings in 2021. According to the president of the CDVC of Houndé, Adama Traoré, this CSPS is welcome, but the choice of the site poses a problem.
According to him, the then municipal council established the CSPS without involving the population and civil society in the choice of the site. “It is very close to the road and an accident can happen quickly,” he said. But in the meantime, the Committee is pleading for it to be opened, even if it appears that the CSPS does not meet the standards and is unviable from the point of view of health mapping.
In the field of education, the population of the village of Koho in Sector 5 of Houndé is eagerly awaiting the secondary school (Collège d’enseignement secondaire, CEG), also built thanks to the LDMF. The construction of this establishment of three classrooms, plus an administration and toilets began in November 2022 and ended in mid-April 2023, for an amount of more than 27 million FCFA. The Committee is already alerted to the cracks that can be seen in the building in question, which is worrying the beneficiaries. On this subject, the President of the Special Delegation (PSD) of Houndé, Souleymane Dianda, reassured journalists during the discussions that the CEG has not yet been accepted, and that any defects that may be found will be corrected by the company in question.
Also thanks to the LDMF, 90 million FCFA were allocated to the construction of a fence for the Gniehoun Hafanki school complex and of shops. Not to mention the 72 million FCFA for the construction of 50 shops on the new site of the large market in Houndé.
The watch and warning role of the Houndé CDVC is highly appreciated by the local authority. Especially with regard to capacity building and studies on issues of great importance. “The Committee provides us with reports that guide our decisions and allow us to take into account certain realities that we might have ignored if the Committee had not approached us,” said the PSD of Houndé.
The Soaw CDVC defends the interests of the population
Since the LDMF became operational, the commune of Soaw has received a total of 151.171 million FCFA. This is a great deal of money, as this commune does not have any mines. This money has been used to build several projects such as the administrative building of the CEG of Kolonkom, latrines for the Soaw medical centre and a drug depot at the CSPS of Kolonkom.
Created in 2018, the Soaw Dialogue and Citizen Watch Committee plays a very important role in guiding infrastructures that would be useful to the population. The CDVC of Saow carries out several activities including exchange meetings with the managers of social infrastructures, training of women and youth on citizen watch, participation and improvement of local governance. The CDVC organises biannual eligibility days.
It works to manage the mining fund to respond to local development priorities. This is demonstrated by the fact that the construction and rehabilitation of boreholes in the commune of Soaw, where the population was experiencing difficulties in obtaining water, was taken into account. The CDVC of Soaw also monitors the quality of services and infrastructure acquired with the mining fund for local development.
It is with this in mind that the Soaw CDVC has denounced the dubious quality of the canteen oils used in the commune of Soaw. The committee’s role does not end there. “The construction of the pharmaceutical depot was a request from civil society. Before, we did not know how to store medicines,” said Germain Nana, president of the CDVC of Soaw.
In this commune, forums were organised to allow the population to express their needs. According to the vice-president of the special delegation, Abraham Seni, these needs were classified by priority. It is on this basis that the commune is working. He also praised the action of the Committee for Dialogue and Citizen Watch (Comité de dialogue et de veille citoyenne, CDVC) which draws the attention of the authorities to certain realities on the ground. This allows things to be corrected quickly. As proof of this, he cited the poor construction of an administrative building in an establishment in the municipality that the Committee reported. “The roof was ruined, and the technicians who were inspecting it saw nothing. The CDVC drew our attention. When we arrived at the site, the situation was real. We drew the attention of the contractor who took over the roof,” he said.
In the communes of Houndé and Soaw, the CDVCs insisted on the need to fill the boreholes in order to supply the localities with drinking water.
Rachid Ouedraogo
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