Akuapem North Assembly holds novel meeting

Amanokrom-Akuapem(ER), May 31, GNA - The Akuapem North District Assembly on Tuesday held a novel open meeting at Amanokrom Town Hall to give the public the chance to demand accountability from the political and public officers in the district as well as deepen participatory democracy.

Hundreds of residents including chiefs, heads of decentralized departments, students and women groups attended the meeting that offered a platform for the citizenry to offer criticisms and suggestions on how to help improve educational and health standards in the district. Mr Edward Adu-Aboagye, Akuapem North District Chief Executive, explained that the programme was part of measures being adopted by the assembly to elicit the preparedness of the people to actively engage in civic activities crucial to the socio-economic development of the district.

The DCE noted that such meetings were necessary to improve local governance, increased access of the people to information about decisions that had been taken by the state and how the public purse was being utilised.

He said in organizing the programme, the assembly took cognisance of civil society that had remained both a major contributor to economic development and social prosperity and emphasised the need for a common platform for political and civil groups in the district to exchange ideas for the benefit of the people.

Nana Manko Aba, Gyaasehemea of Akuapem and Queenmother of Amanokrom, commended the assembly for its foresight and initiative to organise the programme and its genuine desire to harness both human and material resources of the people for development.

Nana Aba dwelt on the unique role the chieftaincy institution could play to champion aspirations of the people and pledged the commitment of chiefs in the area to partner the assembly to bring prosperity to the people.

The Akuapem Gyaasehemea, however, appealed to the assembly to place emphasis on sanitation and environmental cleanliness, because issues of sound health and productivity were often negated by ailments that could be contracted from a decadent environment.

Nana Ansah Sasraku, Chief of Mamfe, stressed the need for the assembly to institute a permanent mechanism by which the diverse interest groups in the district could meet to discuss critical issues affecting the district and how they could be solved.

Mr Alfred Osei, Akuapem North District Director of Education, answered questions on the relevance of a United States funded programme, the Government Accountability Improvement Trust (GAIT) that was to be introduced in 28 schools in the district to help enhance their performance.

Mr Osei assured the people that the programme would involve local expertise and knowledge, to help revive the teaching of Akuapem Twi. This was after some contributors had complained about the dwindling academic fortunes of Akuapem Twi that had hitherto become a prime cultural artifact of the area but its uncritical handling had dwindled its prestige for which the people were now seeking a renaissance, especially the syntactic study of the language. 31 May 06