The oval street in front of the Nkoranza Omanhene's palace at Nkoranza in the Brong Ahafo Region has been named after President Kufuor .This was announced by the Omanhene of the Nkoranza Traditional Area, Okatakyi Agyeman Kudom IV, when the Minister of Local Government, Mr. Kwadwo Baah Wiredu paid a courtesy call on him.
The Omanhene appealed to the government to allow land-related disputes to be settled by chiefs since they as custodians of lands are well versed to handle them.
He called for the enactment of laws by government that will place land matters in the hands of chiefs just as chieftaincy matters have been entrusted to them. He criticised the undue delay of land cases and the huge sums of money spent on litigation.
The Omanhene was not pleased with the District Assembly and Forestry Division of the Forestry Commission for non-payment of compensation to the traditional council from whom large tracts of land have been taken.
Okatakyie Agyeman Kudom further appealed to the government to construct all the major roads in the area in order to speed up economic activities because as he put it the poor road network in the area has impeded the effort of farmers and traders for a long time.
The Omanhene advised the Nkoranza District Assembly to plug leakage in revenue especially at lorry parks and markets, so that the assembly can use the money to provide better facilities to the communities.
Okatakyie Agyeman also appealed to the Minister to create another constituency for the district as he observed that one parliamentarian cannot adequately man all the 245 districts to promote efficiency.
Mr. Baah Wiredu announced that the Ministry has instituted an annual scheme to award the best district assembly, the first of which will be held early next year.
The Minister called for the cooperation of chiefs and the district assemblies in government's rural development efforts. He noted that chiefs have a role to play in the decentralization process by supporting the sub-district structures - Council and Unit Committees - to function effectively.
The Minister said government is determined to improve the living conditions of all people and therefore charged the District assemblies to promote inter-district trading to enhance the operations of farmers.
In line with the policy of transparency and accountability, the Minister announced that the District Assemblies share of the Common Fund will be made public. He explained that delays in the approval and award of contracts cost government millions of cedis, because the banks will buy treasury bills with the common fund lodged with them and pay interest.
