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President urges chief executives to
treat people with courtesy
Elmina, July 5, Ghanadot/GNA-President
John Agyekum Kufuor, on Friday urged metropolitan, municipal
and district chief executives to treat the people with
courtesy and effectively communicate with them to enhance
the work of the assemblies.
He noted that even though there has been a significant
achievement in the decentralization process since its
inception, the assemblies alone could not achieve total
development.
President Kufuor asked the chief executives to collaborate
with potential partners from the private, public and
non-governmental organisations and make use of their
financial and human resources.
He said these in an address read on his behalf by the
Minister of Chieftaincy and Culture, Mr Sampson Kweku Boafo,
at the opening of a two-day ‘mid-year review meeting of the
chief executives from the southern sector of the country,
under the theme “accelerating local level development
through performance assessment, partnership and
productivity” at Elmina.
President Kufuor asked the chief executives to maintain good
relationship with key players in development, particularly
Members of Parliament.
He also asked the chief executives to be vigilant and well
informed to enable them to identify potential trouble spots
and cautioned them against taking sides in disputes.
President Kufuor said “I urge you to be vigilant in all
aspects of your work, in the application of resources,
dissemination of information, managing infrastructural
development, promoting service delivery and above all,
ensuring peace and security in your localities”.
He tasked the assemblies to live up to expectation by
delivering their functions and meeting their targets in a
timely, equitable and adequate manner, stressing that
efficiency as well as effectiveness, should be their
hallmark.
President Kufuor said the introduction of the Functional
Organizational Assessment Tool (FOAT), as a mechanism to
assess the performance of assemblies, improve productivity
and stimulate effectiveness, was in the right direction.
He observed that apart from conflicts, another problem that
needed serious attention was waste collection.
President Kufuor announced that the Ministry of Local
Government, Rural Development and Environment, would soon
“give urgent instructions” to all assemblies, to contract
reliable waste contractors to help solve waste problem.
He paid tribute to hard working chief executives, whom he
said have contributed immensely to the development of the
people and urged them to work harder to help attain the
objectives of the Millennium Development Goals.
Mr Kwadwo Adjei-Darko Minister of Local Government, Rural
Development and Environment, expressed concern that of the
138 assemblies only 50 qualified to be given more support
under the FOAT system, and said some of the assemblies were
not properly managing their financial resources.
He said that the over dependency on the common fund, must be
discouraged, stressing that assemblies could become
financially independent if they were able to mobilize their
local revenue resources well.
The Minister attributed the low revenue
generation by some assemblies to the lack of competent
revenue collectors and the lack of proper supervision.
Mr Adjei-Darko said that technocrats at the newly
established assemblies, would soon be given orientation to
upgrade their skills.
Mr Adjei- Darko reiterated that the creation of 32 new
districts was in line with government’s policy of deepening
the decentralization process and local governance and
ensuring effective service delivery in the local communities
for accelerated development.
He said government was developing effective means of
integrating Ministries Departments and Agencies at the
district level into the district assemblies and that a
Legislative Instrument (LI) to give it a legal backing has
been placed before parliament for consideration.
Mr Adjei-Darko urged the chief executives to be accountable,
transparent and open-minded in the discharge of their work
adding that it was imperative for them to frequently review
their performances to help improve upon their operations.
Nana Ato Arthur, the Central Regional Minister, said the
future was bright for Ghana, but cautioned that the chief
executives against complacency, and asked them to work
harder to promote the welfare of the people.
Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II, Oguaamanhen, appealed to the chief
executives to set up internal audit units to help streamline
their financial activities.
GNA
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