Ministry of Local Govt. to get tough on district assemblies

The Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment, Mr Stephen Asamoah Boateng, has cautioned non-performing District Chief Executives in the country to brace themselves up for serious sanctions.

Speaking in an interview with Kapital News soon after a mid-year review meeting for DCE's in Kumasi, the Minister said this time around, his ministry will not take any excuse from any DCE for non-performance.

The Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Environment, further stated that his outfit would probe into the activities of various assembly members and personnel at district assemblies and would apply the appropriate sanctions on anybody found to be compromising his or her duties to the detriment of the progress of the district.

He disclosed that the spot light would be on everybody to expose any intention by any member of the assembly to sabotage the work of a DCE. When asked of the kind of method he intend to use in order to achieve the desired results in the local government sector, he said, " I am going to press hard for them to achieve the set vision."

The mid-year review meeting provides a forum for reflection, experience-sharing and self-monitoring and evaluation for district, metropolitan and municipal chief executives, regional ministers and relevant stakeholders to identify common concerns and priorities in the business of local governance.

The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr. Emmanuel Owusu Ansah, in his opening address, called for a concerted effort on the part of the leaders to tackle the problem of sanitation which he said is engulfing the nation's cities and urban communities. Top on the agenda for today's session was the National Health Insurance Scheme, its status report, and the roles of the District Assemblies, the President's Special Initiative, District Composite budgeting, New financial systems and procedures to be used by the controller and accountant General's Department.