PM proposes new name for Bawku West District Assembly

Zebilla (U/E), June 7, GNA - Mr Moses Aduk-Pam, Presiding Member of the Bawku West District Assembly has proposed that the Bawku West District be renamed Kusag Toende District Assembly to give the assembly a renewed sense of administrative independence from the Bawku Municipal Assembly from which it was carved.

He argued that the District did not have any connection with Bawku and the proposed name would reflect the traditional area and its people, considering the cultural variance in terms of language and the distance between the area and Bawku. Mr Aduk-Pam made the call at the First Ordinary Meeting of the Sixth Session of the Assembly held at the weekend and called on his colleague Assembly Members to accept the proposal for the change of name to be effected.

Some Members saw the move as timely and described the proposal as an image cleansing exercise since it would distance the Assembly from Bawku, which was currently engrossed in a protracted conflict. Others contended that the change of name would involve huge cost as documentation and many other things would have to be changed and wondered if the Assembly was financially prepared to undertake such a venture. The District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Moro Adam Anabah, addressing the Session said the Assembly received 79 applications from teacher trainees and 54 from nursing trainees for sponsorship for the 2009 - 2010 academic year and added that even though the number was within the plan of the Assembly, emerging issues on the Ghana Health Services guidelines had huge financial implications and so the Assembly had to reduce the number of applicants from 54 to 20 for the trainee nurses. It, however, sponsored all the teacher trainees.

He said the Assembly realized about 55,000 Ghana Cedis during the first quarter of 2010 representing 29.5 per cent of its target for the 2010 fiscal year and called on revenue collection agencies of the Assembly "to ensure that the much needed revenue is mobilized for development". The DCE called on the Assembly Members to take interest in revenue issues in their various Area Councils and said revenue mobilization was key to ensuring that the needed development projects were undertaken to give the District the facelift it deserved.

Mr Anabah drew the attention of the House to directives from the District Assemblies' Common Fund Secretariat about the allocation of a portion of their fund for contingency and to ensure that all unfinished projects were completed before starting new ones.

He appealed to the Members to discuss the 2010 Development Budget of the Assembly dispassionately and in conformity with the directives. He said during the year under review the Assembly undertook a number of projects and mentioned the construction of two eight-bedroom compound houses for the Ghana Police Service and Heads of Government Departments and an abattoir, all which were at advanced stages of completion at Zebilla. He said the Ghana Education Trust Fund (Getfund) was planning for the construction of three six-unit classroom blocks with offices, stores and ancillary facilities at Kaare; Bulinga and Zabzuga and indicated that the process of awarding the contracts had reached advanced stages. The DCE said the District had received 1,264 pieces of sewn school uniforms in addition to 2,000 pieces of pre-cut ones and said it was distributed to 26 schools out of the 54 schools in the District. He said 38 communities would be connected to the National Electricity Grid this year and that the Assembly had made provision in its 2010 Budget to procure 1,000 electricity poles towards the electrification project. 7 June 10