Ministry introduces peer review in MMDAs

The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) has introduced Peer Review in the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) where the heads of departments will give account of their stewardship to enhance development plans.

At a gathering of heads of departments of the Offinso-North District at Akomadan, a Deputy Minister of MLGRD in charge of rural economic development, Mr Augustine Collins Ntim, noted that such reviews would bring cohesion and strengthened collaborative efforts to move the districts forward.

Heads of assemblies

Mr Ntim, who is also the Member of Parliament ( MP) for the area, reminded the heads of assemblies of the many development programmes being rolled out for the MMDAs and therefore underscored the need for them  to work together to make the implementation of the programmes successful.

Mr Ntim stressed that the ministry was moving away from the norm where each outfit was operating independently and said the review would enable the heads to adopt a coordinated approach for the sustenance, development as well as growth of the districts.

He urged the heads to take the peer review seriously and provide a comprehensive report which would have significant impact on their district’s developmental growth.

DCACT

Mr Ntim, further reminded the heads of departments of the District Centre of Agriculture, Commerce and Technology (DCACT) of their role to spearhead the government's  technological, entrepreneurial, commercial and agric business initiatives.

He stressed that  the DCACT, being the central structure, would work closely with the existing National Board for Small-Scale (NBSS), Business Advisory Centre ( BAC) and other decentralised departments at the district level to promote agriculture investment and related businesses.

He emphasised that the DCACT sought to promote the Agric-business potentials of the district by playing an important role in directing effectively the private sector into the one-district, one-factory agenda with a database of farmers, agric-business information, promoting and sustaining the ‘Planting for Food  and Jobs’ and investment.

He, therefore, urged the heads to be actively involved in the review programmes to enable the people to realise a lot of benefits which would improve their lives.

The District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr David Kwasi Asare, for his part, welcomed the peer review which he stressed could bring the heads together to strategise to help push the district development agenda forward.

He expressed the optimism that each head of department would work in harmony with their subordinates to achieve the desired goals.