Wassa Amenfi East holds accountability forum
A forum cum durbar of chiefs and people has been organised at Wassa Akropong, the capital of Wassa Amenfi District on the theme: ‘‘Promoting Transparency, Accountability and Good Governance, the Role of the Citizenry.’’
The forum, organised by the Wassa Amenfi East District Assembly in the Western Region, was necessitated by the fact that some of the people were skeptical and unhappy about the way the district was being run by the local administration and, therefore, the occasion was primarily meant to allow the people to ask questions that were bothering them with regard to the operations and development of the area.
All the departmental heads and those entrusted with organising the forum in the district were present in their numbers to provide answers to clear the seeming negative perception of the people in the areas of education, health, roads, water and sanitation, agriculture, security and any other matters.
The Omanhene of the Wassa Amenfi Traditional Area, Tetrete Okuamoah Sakyi II, chaired the function while his divisional chiefs provided support.
Also present were the clergy and their religious groups as well as students and schoolchildren, with the local Saamang Asafo group performing.
‘Assembly not for one person’
The District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, Mr Stephen Badu-Acheampong, set the tone for the meeting, explaining that the assembly did not mean one person (the DCE) but comprised all the departmental heads, assembly members and other stakeholders.
He appealed to the gathering not to think that the programme was a political event designed to score cheap political marks but rather it was meant to address all nagging issues, adding that the people were noted for substituting the DCE for any matter that cropped up anywhere in the district.
‘‘We are in a democracy so everyone has the right to know whatever is happening at the assembly and any part of the district and that is why we have decided to hold this forum with the active participation of our revered traditional authorities, especially with Tetrete Okuamoah Sakyi as the chairman,’’ he explained.
Purpose of forum/opportunity
The District Co-ordinating Director, Abdul Aziz Jafaru, explained the purpose of the forum and indicated that the assembly had embarked on a number of development projects but some of the people were oblivious of what was going on in various parts of the district.
He, therefore, urged the people to be bold enough to ask questions and that the heads of the various departments were there in their numbers to provide answers, saying, ‘‘the assembly is doing its work but there is so much bad perception and faith about the house. So this is the opportunity for you to ask all your questions.’’
1992 constitution/stool lands
Tetrete Okuamoah Sakyi, in his remarks, described the forum as important and timely and explained that under the 1992 constitution, it was mandatory for the assembly, headed by the DCE to engage in effective development of the area.
That, he said, was not to imply that the DCE alone was to be held responsible; rather the entire assembly should recieve the blame or honour. He added that past leaders came, did their part and left and so it was now the turn of the current leadership to do same, according to the dictates of the constitution.
