Aspiring Presidents must serve in District Assemblies

Ashaiman (G/A), May 5, GNA - All aspiring candidates for the office of President or Members of Parliament must serve at least two terms as elected District Assembly members, Mr Larry Bimi, Chairman of the National Commission on Civic Education, suggested on Friday. Speaking at the second anniversary of the Ashaiman Chapter of the Ghana Homeless People's Federation, Mr Bimi said the move was necessary to enable the people, who sought higher political office to understand the importance of governance at the local level.

The Federation aims to better the lives of members of the community through savings to enable them to meet their basic needs. The celebration is on the theme: "Community led Micro-Finance: Key to Poverty Alleviation."

Mr Bimi said although Africa was seeking to eradicate extreme poverty, illiteracy, hunger and ignorance among other things, the goals could not be attained without the adequate participation of women in governance and decision-making.

He, therefore, called on the women to break through the barriers men had built to keep them permanently in the dark and to also be more interested in how the country was governed.

Mr Bimi asked the women to participate actively in the forthcoming district assemblies' election.

It is in this direction that the National Commission on Civic Education is focusing on programmes designed to inspire citizen to form social groups to audit the rulers by monitoring the various government social interventions being undertaken to lift communities out of poverty.

Mr Bimi said it was important for individuals to know how much of the District Assemblies' Common Fund accrued to the District Assembly and how it was disbursed.

Mr Alfred Agbesi, Member of Parliament for Ashaiman, said it was important for the constituents to come to seek information from the MP's office on issues affecting the constituency.

He said the inability to find out exactly what was happening within the constituency had led to speculations about the misuse of funds, when in the actual fact those funds might not have been received in the first place.

Mr Agbesi said he would not sit down for the people to be rendered homeless because of modernisation, adding that he would ensure that any resettlement-taking place would be done with a human face. Mr Farouk Braimah, Executive Director, People's Dialogue on Human Settlement, said there were plans to construct 40 dwelling units for members of the federation within Ashaiman.

He said the People's Dialogue would also link the beneficiary to the banks to take mortgage financing for building their homes. Mr Charles Martison, General Manager, Banking Operations HFC Bank, said the institution was working on a mortgage finance scheme to enable people to get affordable housing.

He urged the leadership of the Federation to expand the scope of the group.

The majority of the membership of the Ghana Homeless People's Federation is made up of families in informal settlements or wooden structures, railway dwellers or tenants in compound houses in low-income communities.