Chireh assures donors of proper use of resources

Accra, May 5, GNA - The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr. Joseph Yieleh Chireh, on Tuesday assured donors that government would ensure judicious use of resources to the befit of the people who really needed them.

He said local government authorities had been tasked to put in place measures to ensure effective monitoring and accountability for the projects within their jurisdiction to avoid corruption.

The Minister gave the assurance when the Netherlands Ambassador to Ghana, Mrs Lidi Remmelzwaal, called on him at his office in Accra to ascertain the level of progress made in the implementation of the School Feeding Programme (SFP).

The Ambassador's call was also to enable the Netherlands government, sponsor of the SFP programme, to assess the strength of the accountability and monitoring mechanisms put in place to curb corruption and ensure efficiency in the implementation of the programme.

Mr Chireh said government was working to rationalize the programme's implementation strategy, to be devoid of politics and to make it more beneficial to the pupils it was meant for.

He said an orientation programme would be organised for new administrators at the local authority level to make them fully understand the SFP concept to enable them to adopt appropriate strategies for its effective implementation.

Mr. Chireh said government would buy foodstuffs from local farmers to encourage local food production to ensure food security.

Mrs Remmelzwaal called for the involvement of all stakeholders in the implementation of the SFP programme to ensure efficiency.

The SFP was initiated about two years ago to offer nutritious meal to pupils of some deprived basic schools in the country to encourage enrolment at basic school level in fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals.