NALAG gets support to develop strategic plan

The Commonwealth Local Government Cities (CLGC) in the United Kingdom (UK) has assisted the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG) to develop a five-year strategic plan that will propel the association to its rightful place in the local governance system.

The implementation of the plan, which will start in March 2018, is among the results which are yielding through affiliation and partnerships with other international local governance bodies.

Apart from the CLGC, NALAG is a member of the global community and is currently in collaboration with the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG), which has its headquarters in Morocco.

Delegates' conference

The President of NALAG, Mr Felix Nii Anang-La, who disclosed this at the Western Regional Delegates' Conference last Wednesday in Sekondi, also indicated that the association was currently entering a strategic partnership with the European Union (EU) to promote the training and development of its members.

The theme for the conference, which also elected Mr Benjamin Kesie as the Regional Representative to the national executive council, was "The Role of the Local Authorities in the Implementation of the Global Agenda for Sustainable Development."

The conference was attended by assembly members and metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) in the region who constitute NALAG.

Waste management

The president again pointed out that NALAG facilitated and worked with some waste management companies to implement improved sanitation and waste management at the Agona West Municipal Assembly in the Central Region.

"We are working on more sister city relations with other local authorities all over the world. We have started building the database to facilitate the planning  and administration of the association and this is progressing steadily," Mr Anang-La further indicated.

He, therefore, appealed to the members to support the research team from the secretariat when it called for data.

The president suggested that NALAG should be a one-stop shop for data gathering on local government and decentralisation in Ghana, and commended all the assemblies who had furnished the secretariat with the required information to facilitate the database.

Contemporary issues

"While we deliberate on all these important issues, let us not lose sight of other important issues that should warrant the attention of all the MMDAs in the country, such as the creation of new district assemblies and the election of new MMDCEs," the NALAG president pleaded.

He also reminded members of the strategies for effective stakeholder engagement on popular participation, as well as the continuous lobbying for the payment of remuneration of assembly members by the government.

Motorbikes

The national president said it was inevitable that assembly members deserved motorbikes and should be given, in spite of the delay and other setbacks.