Participatory Communication Approach and Stakeholders’ Inclusivity in Community Development in the Greater Accra Region: A Case of Adentan Municipal Community

Abstract

The effectiveness of participatory communication approach may depend on the stakeholders’ inclusivity in the process of initiating and implementing development projects in communities. The Greater Accra, Ghana case presents a very controversial scenario. Local government policy guidelines in Ghana give directives to the municipalities to ensure the participation of local citizens and the stakeholders in their development trajectories, including formulating and implementing any integrated development project to assure effective service delivery and accountable governance. Again, the guidelines stipulate that each municipality must encourage the involvement of communities and community organizations in matters related to local governance. This study argues that the available literature on the effectiveness of participatory communication approach turns to highlight the elusive nature of the concept, alongside the buzzwords such as ‘inclusivity’, ‘ empowerment, and social capital’ as well as ‘local community development’. How can participatory communication approach be effective in ensuring self-empowerment for local community development when it excludes the stakeholders who are the beneficiaries of the development project? This study deployed in-depth interviews using purposive sampling technique for data collection to examine the effectiveness of participatory communication approach and stakeholders’ inclusivity in community development. Findings revealed that the participatory communication approach emphasizes on planning of communication activities as a support to a development project, nonetheless, it does not produce a common understanding and consensus among all stakeholders to ensure effective participation in development initiatives. It concludes that participatory communication approach gives an impressive façade in that although it is a bottom-up approach, it seems all the activities involved turn out to reflect a top-down approach due to its exclusivity hence its elusiveness. It suggests that local community authorities should embrace bottom-up approach such as active involvement and engagement of participants in the communication processes, adopt and adapt to productive community dialogues, recognize and value the importance of community members’ participation as well as their contributions and perspectives.