"Govt will not rush in appointing District Chief Executive"

Koforidua, April 4, GNA-Mr. Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, Eastern Regional Minister on Friday says government will not rush in appointing persons for the position of District and Municipal Chief Executives just because of perceptions that it was being slow.

He debunked the perception that government was being too slow stressing that "the President is being meticulous to ensure that credible people who can do the work in line with his vision for a better Ghana were appointed".

Addressing separate meetings of chiefs from the Okereman Council and the Regional House of Muslim Chiefs, he indicated that the NDC having been in power before knows the pitfalls and therefore would not want to repeat mistakes.

He told the chiefs that a committee of high profiled persons had been formed to do the selection interview and were at the final stages of naming the executive by the end of the month and called on all to be patient whiles a thorough screening was done.

Mr Ofosu-Ampofo assured the chiefs that, government would not hesitate to consult them to factor their inputs into the appointments. He urged the chiefs to step up their duties as the traditional authorities in their respective areas to take interest in the activities of the educational and training institutions to ensure that the right things were being done.

The Regional Minister called on the Muslim chiefs, especially, to help remove the perceptions of the Zongo communities by educating their children and people on the need for formal education alongside an Arabic learning.

He disclosed that the Islamic University had agreed to give a quota to students from the Zongo communities in the region for admission as well as scholarship packages from the Sinare Educational Fund and urged them to seize that opportunity.

Mr Ofosu-Ampofo noted for instance that chiefs could be influential in checking unacceptable attitudes of teachers, parents and students in their areas by visiting the schools and using their influence to correct the anomalies in society.

The Okere delegation which was led by the Chief of Adukrom, Nana Otutu Kono III, informed the Minister of their resolve to be the movers of culture and tradition. The Muslim delegation, led by Alhaji Alhassan Umar, President of the Regional House of Chiefs, also thanked the Minister for the insight given them on education and pledged their commitment to erase the negative perception of the Zongo communities. 04 April 09