Tolon/Savelugu (N/R), March 3, GNA- Mr Ernest Debrah, Northern Regional Minister has said that the successful district level and Unit Committee elections in some districts in the region was a positive step and progress made towards finding lasting peace in Dagbon.
"The successful district level elections in the four districts give us great hope that we are gradually but certainly making progress towards normalcy in Dagbon and in the entire region", he said.
Mr Debrah was speaking at the inauguration of the Tolon/Kumbungu and Savelugu/Nanton District Assemblies at separate functions at Tolon and Savelugu on Tuesday.
The Regional Minister said normalcy and peace in Dagbon was long overdue, and regretted the slow pace at which the peace process was moving.
The Tolon/Kumbungu District Assembly has 61 members while the Savelugu/Nanton District Assembly has a 51-member House. The district level elections in six districts of the Northern Region had to delay due to the imposition of a state of emergency in those districts following the 2002 Dagbon conflict.
The state of emergency in four of the districts was however lifted, paving the way for the district level and Unit Committee elections in those districts, which were conducted in December 16 last year.
The four districts were: Gushiegu/Karaga, Tolon/Kumbungu, Savelugu/Nanton and Zabzugu/Tatale. Tamale and Yendi District Assemblies are yet to elect their members.
Mr Debrah called on the new Assembly Members to work together as a team to ensure that peace returns to Dagbon to re-unite the two-chieftaincy gates.
He reminded Members that they were coming into office at a time when there was a public outcry over the performance of some district assemblies and urged them to work hard and in harmony to reverse the perception that the assemblies were inefficient and corrupt.
The Regional Minister expressed disappointment at the low level collection of internally generated revenue of most of the assemblies in the region and called on them to improve on the situation.
Mr Debrah observed that the District Chief Executives had controlled some district assemblies while the rest of the Assembly Members had failed to play their watchdog and monitoring roles.
Mr Alhassan Baako, the Tolon/Kumbungu DCE advised the new Members to bring their experiences to bear on the assembly to improve revenue collection in their respective electoral areas.
He entreated them to become ambassadors of peace and learn to forgive one another to ensure that Dagbon enjoys permanent peace necessary for development.
Mr Abubakari Atori, the DCE for Savelugu/Nanton expressed the hope that the inauguration of the assembly would help end acrimony, rumour mongering and hostilities in the district to pave way for development. He said the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) had come to stay and announced that the district would launch the scheme in June, this year to make it operational and called on the people to support it. He said the Assembly had prepared a draft proposal on the scheme for consideration by the House during its sitting.
The DCE called for maximum cooperation among members to ensure that the goals and aims of the district were achieved.
