Kwesimintim Municipality inaugurated

Mr Joe Ghartey, Member of Parliament for Ketan-Essikado Constituency has urged stakeholders to support in developing the newly created district Assemblies so as to realise the optimum of the decentralisation agenda. He was speaking at the inauguration of the newly created Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipal Assembly (EKMA) at Effia in the Western Region.

He said Development was core to the country's growth and accelerated improvement and therefore called on traditional authorities and residents to support the vision for growth of the new district Assembly. The EKMA, formerly Effia-Kwesimitsim Sub-Metro and under Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA), has 300,000 residents tracing from the Ghana Statistical Service 2010 Population and Housing Census.

The new assembly has 12 Electoral Areas; Effia, Effiakuma East and West, Effiakuma Zongo, East Tanokrom, Anaji East and West, Kwesimintsim, Sabo Zongo, Sofo Zongo, Asakae and Apremdo.

The MP said, the creation of the new Assembly would bring governance closer to the door steps of the people and stressed the need for citizen’s participation for accelerated development.

“There will also be effective mobilisation of resources for the provision of infrastructure to help enhance the quality of life of the residents in the newly created assembly”, he added.

He appealed to petty traders and property owners in the district to pay their rates, tolls, levies and taxes to the assembly so that it could mobilise enough revenue towards the speedy development of the area.

The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Anthony K.K Sam praised the President, Nana Akufo-Addo for creating new Assemblies in accordance with the 1992 constitution.

“Our land use has been growing at such a high speed that we need a lot of social infrastructure such as roads network, hospitals, water and electricity among others”. He indicated that EKMA had great economic potentials which should be properly harnessed to improve the financial base of the assembly.

Mr Sam said to improve sanitation situation and waste management at EKMA, the STMA had already entered into a franchise contract for the evacuation of solid waste. He appealed to the management of the new assembly to adopt strategies towards sustainable utilisation of projects for the betterment of posterity.

The 12-member elected assembly members of EKMA were later sworn into office with Mr Samuel Nana Andoh Mensah as the first Coordinating Director of the new assembly.