RISE-Ghana Evaluation Flags Gaps in Local Governance, Health Referral Systems in Bolgatanga East

By – Gladys Apuweni

RISE-Ghana has identified gaps in the functionality of sub district governance structures and is assessing challenges affecting health referral pathways in the Bolgatanga East District of the Upper East Region, as part of efforts to improve service delivery and evidence based decision making

The findings were presented to 15 journalists during a one day evaluation programme held in Bolgatanga on Friday, October 16, 2026, under the Bolgatanga East District Evidence for Development (E4D) Community of Practice

The programme was facilitated by Miss Bernice Atanga, Project Officer of RISE-Ghana, and focused on evaluating selected interventions in the health and governance sectors

The initiative is supported by the Centre for Democratic Development Ghana (CDD Ghana) under the Evidence for Development project

Presenting the governance findings, Miss Atanga highlighted concerns about the functionality of Area Councils and Unit Committees, which are expected to promote grassroots participation in local governance under the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936)

The assessment revealed that Bolgatanga East District has one Area Council, while Unit Committee meetings have largely been held through sessions supported by the E4D initiative

The district also recorded a decline in its governance position on the District League Table, moving from 164th in 2022 to 191st in 2023 out of 261 districts. Its score dropped from 89.3 to 88.4

The evaluation involved 19 interviews with assembly members, district level officers, community members, traditional leaders, women’s organisers and other stakeholders

Three focus group discussions were also conducted across the district’s zones to gather community perspectives on the performance of governance structures

On the health component, the evaluation examined referral pathways to assess how patients are referred between health facilities and identify areas requiring improvement

Specific findings on referral completion, delays, communication between facilities and challenges faced by patients were not provided in the information available for this report

These details are necessary to accurately establish the key health related findings.
Although the District Assembly routinely monitors development projects, the facilitators observed that structured evaluations to determine their effectiveness and impact remain less common

The engagement with journalists is expected to increase public awareness of the findings and promote reporting that strengthens accountability, improves health service delivery and encourages effective local governance

RISE-Ghana reaffirmed the importance of using evidence to assess development interventions and ensure that public projects and local governance structures respond to the needs of communities

Source – gbcuraonline.com