Assemblies asked to support sub-district structures

Bolgatanga, Aug 19, GNA - Mr Mark Woyongo, the Upper East Regional Minister Municipal, has asked district assemblies in the region to set aside a percentage of their allocation of the Assemblies' Common Fund to establish and strengthen sub-district structures as directed by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.

He said all assemblies in the region should budget to provide office infrastructure and equipment and also to build the capacities of staff.

Mr Woyongo said this in a speech read for him at the opening of a two-day district key stakeholders' workshop on Public Participation in Local Governance (PPLG) on Thursday in Bolgatanga.

It was organized by IBIS West Africa, to afford Municipal and District Assemblies in the region

Mr. Woyongo said sub-district structures were very important because they formed the basic unit levels of Ghana's decentralization and democratization process which sought to ensure grass-root participation in decision making and should be given attention.

He said despite the numerous challenges like lack of permanent staff for secretariats, poor remunerations of staff, lack of infrastructure and equipment, low morale due to non-recognition and lack of commitment of Assemblies in ceding functions to the Sub-District structures, the functioning of Sub-District structures was key to the decentralization and democratization process.

Mr Woyongo said transparency and accountability were key tenets of good governance as it promoted judicious and efficient management of public resources, equity in resource distribution and involvement of the public in decision making.

This, he said, needed the support of civil society organizations and NGOs to educate and whip up people's interest in questioning issues that affect their lives, but cautioned against unfounded pronouncements on radio about personalities and institutions.

Mr. Woyongo urged the Municipal and District Chief Executives to take interest in the up coming election by encouraging and providing special support to women and persons with disabilities to stand for the assembly election.

Mr. Abdallah Abubakari, Programme Director of PPLG, appealed to Municipal and District assemblies to give special attention to women in their awareness creation programmes and also increase the number of female appointees to Assemblies.

He said such women would be given training to improve their knowledge and confidence level to enable them to participate fully at Assembly meetings.

He mentioned the objectives of the PPLG programme, carried out mainly through education and awareness creation, as citizens participation in the formulation, implementation and monitoring of policies that affect local governance, strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations to mobilize their constituencies to demand accountability of government and organize women to actively participate in decision making at the local level.

It is also to see to it that sub-district structures are functioning according to their mandate through engagement with District Assemblies and Regional Coordinating Councils in close collaboration with civil society.