Deputy Minister of Local Govt Ends Tour of MDAs in V/R

Mr Ntim,fourth from left, Mr Lawrence Aziale,fourth from right,DCE and Nana Boakye(in Kente cloth) with some staff of the Jasikan District Assembly.

The Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Augustine Collins Ntim' has undertaken a five-day assessment tour of Municipal and District Assemblies in the Volta Region and described the performance of most of them as very impressive.

It formed part of the sector ministry's monitoring and assessment programme of all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies(MMDAs) nation-wide on a number of issues ranging from internal revenue generation(IGF), holding of statutory meetings, strengthening of the various sub structures of the Assemblies, Planting For Food and Jobs(PFJ) to Planting for Export and Rural Development(PERD).

Addressing a durbar of chiefs and heads of decentralised departments of the Jasikan District Assembly, the Deputy Minister who is in charge of Rural Economic Development and Agriculture echoed the government's commitment to ginger up the rural economy by empowering farmers through the PERD programme.

He was emphatic that the sector ministry will vigorously monitor the performance of the assemblies to ensure that all government policies and programmes which eventually find expression at the district level where actual implementation occurs were geared towards the purpose of introduction.

The Akufo-Addo government, he pointed out, "does not believe in the status quo or 'business as usual' attitude but rather a total transformation of the lives of the people especially rural dwellers".

Mr Ntim reminded Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) and Heads of Decentralised Departments of the President's determination to develop every facet of the economy largely through the decentralised system and asked them to be hardworking, diligent and proactive.

" The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development under the minister, Hajia Alima Mahama, is working hard to ensure that the MMDAs receive the necessary resources and support to enable it to deliver effectively too. No chief executive will therefore have any reason whatsoever to underperform", he declared.

Mr Ntim asked MMDAs which have not been able to meet the target of raising 100,000 seedlings of the selected tree and cash crops to do so in the next two months.

Nana Boakye IV, the traditional overlord of Jasikan commended the sector ministry for sticking to its programme of regularly monitoring and assessing the performance of the MMDAs saying that it would put them on their toes for effective and efficient delivery.

The Kadjebi and Akatsi North District Assemblies scored high marks in agriculture for raising 911,000 cocoa and 60,000 cashew seedlings respectively for free supply to farmers in their areas under the PERD programme.

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