NALAG postpones conference

The National Executive Committee of the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG) has announced the postponement of its 18th national delegates’ conference. The conference which was to take place in the Brong Ahafo Regional capital, Sunyani, from Wednesday, October 23 to Saturday, October 26, 2013 will now take place from Tuesday, November 12 to Friday, November 15, 2013 but at the same venue.

The NEC cited the just-called-off strike by members of the Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG) as one major reason why the meeting could not come off as planned, since some key staff members of the various assemblies were not available.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Sunyani on Wednesday, Mr Ebenezer Akuoko-Frimpong, the President of NALAG, indicated that following the realisation that the meeting had been a fiasco, the NEC held an emergency meeting in Sunyani to set the new date and also consider other pressing issues that confronted the association.

A total of 1,080 delegates were expected to attend the biennial conference, which will have had the theme, ‘‘Energising Local Economies: Partnerships for Accelerated Development at the Local Level.’’

The president of the association, who regretted the twist of events, used the occasion to apologise to members of the group and urged them to put the past behind them and attend the meeting in their numbers on the rescheduled date without fail.

According to Mr Akuoko-Frimpong, the programme lined up for the conference included a workshop on local economic development, consideration of audit report and an election of a new executive to run the association for a two-year term.

He explained that the positions to contest were the president, first and second vice president, first and second trustees and a national treasurer, as well as chairperson of the women caucus.

The NALAG president further indicated to the Daily Graphic that the constitution of the association had been amended which had now paved the way for the executive to hold their respective posts for two years instead of the previous one-year term, adding that the executive members were eligible to go for a second term.

Mr Akuoko-Frimpong again explained that the constitution amendment process, which was financed by the German International Co-operation (GIZ), was done in consonance with global practice, saying that development partners and other collaborators had often raised concerns about the short-term tenure of the executive.

He indicated that in the previous case where three delegates each from the various metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies attended such conferences, the number had now been expanded to five participants each in the amended constitution.

The President appealed to members of NALAG to co-operate with the staff of the respective assemblies so that, together, they could move the development agenda of the assemblies forward.

Mr Akuoko-Frimpong expressed the hope that the government would address the concerns of CLOGSAG to enable them work harder in the years ahead.

By Akwasi Ampratwum-Mensah/Daily Graphic/Ghana