Assembly Members Learn Local Governance

Participants in a group photograph.

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday July 26, 2011.
AN OFFICER at the African Peer Review Secretariat, Kofi Gyan has stressed the need for assembly members to indentify and collaborate with development partners in their respective areas to achieve accelerated growth.

He said if assembly members became proactive, their contributions would give practical meaning to the decentralization process that seeks to bring governance to the people at the grass roots.

Mr. Gyan was speaking at a workshop organized by the Ghana Union of Traders (GUTA), with sponsorship from Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) for assembly members in the Kintampo area of the Brong Ahafo region.

The workshop was aimed at sensitizing newly elected assembly members to understand the district assembly concept and position them to play active roles in their various assemblies.

Mr. Gyan said although assembly members lack the needed funds to carry out projects, proactively engaging development partners to support developmental programmes would help Speaking on the topic, “The Assembly Member and the Common Fund,” Emmanuel Danso from the office of the Administrator of the District Assemblies Common Fund, said it was the duty of members of the various assemblies to support the DCEs to utilize the funds for accelerated development.

He urged the members to effectively monitor the utilization of funds so that the common fund would be directed towards providing essential services to the people and not misapplied.

Stephen Agyemang-Badu, Chief Budget Analyst from the Techiman Municipal Assembly, who spoke about how to mobilize communities for development, noted it was only through effective leadership that communities could mobilize the people for development.

Isaac Osei-Antwi, former Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Techiman, who spoke on the relationship between District Chief Executives (DCEs) and assembly members, said since the DCEs wielded the final authority, it was important for members of the assemblies to always have cordial relationships with them in order to secure projects for their areas.

Dr. Isaac Owusu-Mensah, Senior Programmes Manager of KAS noted that the foundation was committed to empowering state institutions to pursue the consolidation of good governance which will in the end strengthen the country’s democracy.

Jimmy Yeboah Asiamah of GUTA for his part, called for dynamism in the way assembly members carry out the business of the assemblies and promised to always engage them to advance the local government system.