MMDCEs urged to be accountable to the people
About 200 metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) on Monday began a four-day orientation programme in Accra, with a call on them to be accountable to their people.
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The programme is designed to equip the newly appointed MMDCEs with the requisite knowledge and skills and the right attitude to lead the decentralisation process in their respective districts more effectively.
Topics being treated at the programme include the legal, policy and planning framework on decentralisation, implementation issues, financial management, resource mobilisation, the procurement environment and local economic development.
Sector ministers will brief the MMDCEs on priority areas of their respective ministries.
Opening the programme, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Hajia Alima Mahama, urged the MMDCEs to be guided by the 1992 Constitution, the Local Governance Act and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) manifesto in their operations.
She asked them to shun any act of impropriety and cautioned that the government would not shield anyone found to have engaged in wrongful acts.
She advised them to be objective, efficient and effective in the exercise of their leadership role to earn the respect of their people.
She further advised them to collaborate with traditional authorities, faith-based organisations, civil society organisations, assembly members, presiding members and Members of Parliament (MPs) to identify and resolve social and developmental challenges in their respective areas.
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Sub-district structures
Hajia Alima expressed worry over the non-functioning sub-district structures, including urban, town, area and zonal councils and unit committees, and said the situation was a major challenge to the operations of district assemblies.
She said the sub-structures were expected to educate, mobilise and organise the communities, collect revenue, embark on sanitation exercises, register births and deaths and implement self-help projects.
"Sadly, in most of our districts, these sub-structures are either not in place or if they are, they are not functioning effectively in contributing to the development process, as envisioned in the decentralised planning process," she said.
She affirmed the resolve of the government to strengthen the sub-structures and asked regional coordinating councils to collaborate with the government to achieve that objective.
Revenue generation
Hajia Alima condemned the over reliance on the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF)by some assemblies and said the government would reverse that trend, adding: "District assemblies must develop revenue mobilisation mechanisms for increased revenue."