Assembly to put in place an election task force

Mamponteng (Ash), July 13, GNA - The Kwabre District Assembly (KDA) is to put in place an election task force made up of security agencies to ensure peace in the run up to the Election 2004.

The task force is to enlighten the public on acceptable conduct of behaviour during the election period, vet all cases of electoral frauds and political violence before, during and after the elections to ensure free, fair and peaceful election.

Alhaji Ahmed Akwasi Yeboah, Kwabre District Chief Executive, announced this in his sessional address at the Assembly's second ordinary meeting at Mamponteng on Monday.

"The Assembly, will support the Electoral Commission, the security agencies and other institutions that matter in the district to ensure peaceful election," he said.

The DCE expressed satisfaction about the peace in the district devoid of political violence and verbal assaults that had characterised political campaigns in some areas and urged the members to maintain the spirit of tolerance especially as the election campaign gathered momentum.

Alhaji Yeboah urged the members to continue to support the Assembly in diverse ways to improve its revenue collection machinery so that it could generate substantial revenue to supplement funds from the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF).

He said: "Revenue generation is vital for the operation of the district assembly and that we should not be complacent because of the "Common Fund", pointing out that a decrease in revenue generation would lead to a fall in central government's allocation of the Common Fund to the district Assembly".

"I will therefore like to draw members attention to the need to embark on revenue mobilisation to increase our local sources of revenue", he added.

The DCE commended the District Director of Agriculture, Dr Kofi Kwansah-Filson for the registration of pets in the district, the first of its kind in the country.

"The outfit was able to raise eight million cedis from the anti-rabies campaign for the assembly. I hope the register and the money is going to help to support the socio-economic development of the assembly", he said.

He was grateful for the hard work of the members and the good working relations between them and the staff of the District Assembly and expressed the hope that it would continue to enhance the rapid development of the district.