MMDAs To Sign Performance Contract To Deepen Decentralization

Apollo (W/R),June 22,GNA--The Head of Local Government Service,Ing.Dr.Nana Ato Arthur has hinted that all Metropolitan,Municipal and District Assemblies(MMDAs) will sign a performance contract effective 2018 as part of measures to deepen decentralization at the grass root level.

He, therefore. charged MMDAs to speed up development in a bid to bring prosperity to people within their catchment areas.

Ing.Dr. Nana Arthur gave the hint when he met a cross-section of staff from the 22 MMDAs in the Region at Apollo in Takoradi as part of a familiarization visit to the Western Region.

The visit which is the 9th in the series in the country since he assumed office this year,afforded him the opportunity to interact with Heads of Departments and key actors in all the 22 MMDAs in the Region to learn at first hand their condition of service and how to chart a new path.

Ing. Dr. Nana Arthur deplored the situation where MMDA staff report late to work and close very early and warned that such flippant attitude would no longer be tolerated as the productive hours lost affect efficient running of the MMDAs.

He called for a behavioral change of staff adding that 'if we are committed to transform our MMDAs,we have transformed Ghana".

Ing.Dr.Nana Arthur urged staff to be innovative,strategic,dedicated,skilled and loyal to meet the set target of government and charged budgeting officers to work in concert with Assembly members.

He catalogued six thematic areas as his major pre-occupation to streamline issues in the service as capacity building of staff,promotion of ICT to improve revenue mobilization and re-tooling of development planning.

Others are the sister-city partnership where Assemblies wills share ideas and sanitation to ensure cleanliness. and staff orientation.

As part of efficiency of the service,he warned front line staff who chat on social media during working hours at the expense of attending to clients to desist from the practice.

He hinted that the service will soon roll out transfers of staff whose services services may be needed in other parts of the country.

The Western Regional Minister,Mr.Kwaku Osei Afriyie said 20 out of the 22 Metropolitan,Municipal and District Chief Executives(MMDCEs) have been confirmed and sworn into office.

He said the Region is endowed with many natural resources and cash crops notably rubber plantation which contributes about 50% of Gross Domestic Product(GDP).

However,the Region is hampered by issues such as galamsey leading to environmental degradation and water pollution adding that places such as Wassa Akropong have been taken over by foreigners.

Mr.Afriyie also mentioned chieftaicy disputes,bad educational infrastructure and vacancies in the various sectors as challenges confronting the Region which required immediate attention.

He said the regional Cordinating Council will live up to its core mandate to incorporate values in the private sector as the main vehicle to drive development.

On the planting for food programme, he said about 4,000 indigenes of the Region have registered to cultivate 4,000 hectares of assorted food items.

The Regional said plans were far advanced for the creation of the Western-North as a new Region.