Eastern Region NALAG holds congress

Koforidua, July 17, GNA - The Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Gustav Narh Dometey, on Thursday called on stakeholders involved in the process of fiscal decentralisation to speed up the process to enhance accountability.

He said the "current system under which departments and agencies exercise monopoly over their departmental budgetary allocations and are therefore not financially accountable to the district assembly is not the best".

This was contained in a speech read on his behalf at the Eastern Regional delegate's conference of the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG).

Mr Narh Dometey appealed to NALAG to ensure the early implementation of fiscal decentralisation to give the District Assemblies firm control over departments and agencies at the district level.

He said due to the strong positive attributes of decentralisation system of local government being practised in the country it makes good political and economic sense to deepen the process to ensure that all other bottlenecks in the system are removed.

"The challenge, therefore is for all stakeholders in the process, particularly NALAG to redouble their efforts to energise and give impetus to the institutions of local governance to take their proper places in the system to enhance effectiveness'' he said.

The National President of NALAG, Mr Akwasi Asare Ankomah, said the national delegates' conference of the association would be held at Sekondi from October 13 to 17 where the association's constitution would be promulgated.

Mr Ankomah said the operations of the association are being decentralised with the opening of regional secretariats. He said they would be encouraged to acquire a building plot to put up their own secretariat.

New Juaben Municipal Chief Executive, Nana Adjei Boateng, reminded the delegates that they have a duty to complement the effort of the Government to achieve good governance at the local level.