National Orientation for Assembly Members launched

Alhaji Collins Dauda, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development on Thursday urged assembly members to concentrate on their unique role that would help them promote democracy.

He said this could be done through maintaining close contacts with the people who elected them and also have due regards for the interest of the people they serve.

Alhaji Dauda was speaking at the National Launched of Orientation for Assembly Members in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region.

The Orientation seeks to put the assembly members in the right stead to prosecute their mandate.

He said the Government would continue to promote decentralisation to facilitate development.

Alhaji Dauda who is also the Member of Parliament for Asutifi South tasked the assembly members to help build Ghana by creating opportunities that are free for all to benefit.

He said the assembly members has come at a time that Government is promoting the National Decentralisation Plan, which rests on five thematic areas.

“The five thematic areas are Political, Administrative, Fiscal and Legal Decentralisation and Popular Participation.”

The Minister noted that funding is one of the major challenge for the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) and challenged assembly members not to always depend on state funds but to initiate innovative and effective programmes that would attract investments.

He said the core mandate of the MMDAs is to promote peace and security, good governance, development and good sanitation practices to promote public and environmental health among the citizenry.

Alhaji Dauda said it is in this regards that Government instituted the National Sanitation Day exercise scheduled for every first Saturday of the every month was instituted to instill the culture of communalism and to change the attitude of the citizenry towards the indiscriminate dumping of refuse.

Mr James Zugah Tigah, Regional Minister said, decentralisation and local governance have come to stay and would remain the surest vehicle for local democracy, social services delivery and development.

He said as representative of the people, assembly members constitute the single most important actors at the local level.

Mr Tigah said it is important to adequately and imperatively orient and build the capacities of assembly members to play their role effectively and efficiently.

He called on assembly members to strengthen networks with civil society organisations and the private sector to attract the needed resources and investment not only to their areas but also the assemblies in which they operate.