Ministry of Local government should be maintained - Minister designate

Mr Akwasi Oppong-Fosu, Minister designate for Local Government and Rural Development has argued that the abolition of that Ministry was not necessary but that getting the work done effectively was the issue to be addressed.

Mr Oppong-Fosu said this in an answer to a question when he appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament to be vetted.

He noted that the idea of the abolition of the Ministry came up with options, saying “we should maintain the Ministry and get the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee to get the work done.”

He noted that he had served in local government administration and was therefore competent to be nominated to handle the Ministry.

On multiplicity of laws within the sector, Mr Oppong-Fosu noted that some laws ran counter to others and said work on a draft about a composite local government and decentralization Act was ongoing, and the next stage would be to put it forward for discussion among the relevant stakeholders in order to have one law for local government.

He said when given the nod he would ensure that the Institute of Local Government was supported to build the capacities of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.

He said at the district level if infrastructure was provided without income it created a problem, adding that his administration would bring up the policy that was meant to address the revenue generation capacities of the districts to its implementation level.

He said it was quite controversial to have district assemblies enter the capital market to raise funds for development, noting that in the event that they were unable to repay, it was government that had to be held responsible to bail them.

He urged the assemblies to generate the needed funds for the development of their areas, saying that there was an ongoing programme to resource the new districts to become viable.

On sanitation, Mr Oppong-Fosu said there must be a collective effort to deal with sanitation, as a lot of initiatives had been taken but with very little impact.

He urged all MMDAs to initiate well defined strategies with regard to the issue of sanitation.