Elmina, July 5, GNA-President John Agyekum Kufuor, on Friday urged metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives to treat the people with courtesy and effectively communicate with them to enhance the work of the assemblies.
He noted that even though there has been a significant achievement in the decentralization process since its inception, the assemblies alone could not achieve total development. President Kufuor asked the chief executives to collaborate with potential partners from the private, public and non-governmental organisations and make use of their financial and human resources. He said these in an address read on his behalf by the Minister of Chieftaincy and Culture, Mr Sampson Kweku Boafo, at the opening of a two-day 'mid-year review meeting of the chief executives from the southern sector of the country, under the theme "accelerating local level development through performance assessment, partnership and productivity" at Elmina.
President Kufuor asked the chief executives to maintain good relationship with key players in development, particularly Members of Parliament.
He also asked the chief executives to be vigilant and well informed to enable them to identify potential trouble spots and cautioned them against taking sides in disputes.
President Kufuor said "I urge you to be vigilant in all aspects of your work, in the application of resources, dissemination of information, managing infrastructural development, promoting service delivery and above all, ensuring peace and security in your localities".
He tasked the assemblies to live up to expectation by delivering their functions and meeting their targets in a timely, equitable and adequate manner, stressing that efficiency as well as effectiveness, should be their hallmark.
President Kufuor said the introduction of the Functional Organizational Assessment Tool (FOAT), as a mechanism to assess the performance of assemblies, improve productivity and stimulate effectiveness, was in the right direction.
He observed that apart from conflicts, another problem that needed serious attention was waste collection. President Kufuor announced that the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment, would soon "give urgent instructions" to all assemblies, to contract reliable waste contractors to help solve waste problem.
He paid tribute to hard working chief executives, whom he said have contributed immensely to the development of the people and urged them to work harder to help attain the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals. Mr Kwadwo Adjei-Darko Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment, expressed concern that of the 138 assemblies only 50 qualified to be given more support under the FOAT system, and said some of the assemblies were not properly managing their financial resources. He said that the over dependency on the common fund, must be discouraged, stressing that assemblies could become financially independent if they were able to mobilize their local revenue resources well. The Minister attributed the low revenue generation by some assemblies to the lack of competent revenue collectors and the lack of proper supervision. Mr Adjei-Darko said that technocrats at the newly established assemblies, would soon be given orientation to upgrade their skills.
Mr Adjei- Darko reiterated that the creation of 32 new districts was in line with government's policy of deepening the decentralization process and local governance and ensuring effective service delivery in the local communities for accelerated development. He said government was developing effective means of integrating Ministries Departments and Agencies at the district level into the district assemblies and that a Legislative Instrument (LI) to give it a legal backing has been placed before parliament for consideration. Mr Adjei-Darko urged the chief executives to be accountable, transparent and open-minded in the discharge of their work adding that it was imperative for them to frequently review their performances to help improve upon their operations. Nana Ato Arthur, the Central Regional Minister, said the future was bright for Ghana, but cautioned that the chief executives against complacency, and asked them to work harder to promote the welfare of the people.
Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II, Oguaamanhen, appealed to the chief executives to set up internal audit units to help streamline their financial activities. July 5 08
