Six additional districts to be created in Northern Region

Tamale, Dec. 29, GNA - Mr Moses Bukari Mabengba, Northern Regional Minister has announced that government would create six additional districts in the region, which hitherto was too vast for administrative purposes, to enhance grassroots participation in decision making.

He therefore entreated heads of decentralised department in the region to make provision to post some of their staff to the districts to be carved by the first quarter of next year.

Mr Mabengba announced this at an end-of year meeting with heads of department in the region in Tamale on Thursday.

He reminded the heads of the Legislative Instrument (LI 1961), which seeks to deepen the operationalisation of the decentralisation process by completely decoupling and transferring civil servants in the regions and the districts to the Local Government Service and urged them to recognise the new institutional arrangement.

He said the new arrangement which was fashioned out to speed up the development of the districts would only succeed if civil and public servants support it.

Mr Mabengba entreated the heads of department to ensure that personnel under them report directly to the Metropolitan/Municipal and District Chief Executives. He said the district composite budget would be implemented in the coming fiscal year, which implied that the Metropolitan Municipal and District Assemblies would become the rallying point of all development issues while the departments under them would be involved in the execution process. Mr San Nasamu Asabigi, Deputy Regional Minister urged the heads to collaborate with the Regional Co-ordinating Council to ensure the maintenance of peace in the region.

He said the fast growing region needs peace to make progress.