Citizens’ active participation key to national dev’t — Kofi Dei
The Central Regional Director of the Information Services Department (ISD), Mr Kofi Dei, has admonished Ghanaians to be actively involved in the governance system in order to make meaningful contributions towards the progress of the country.
He noted that as Ghanaians, “we must at all times be interested in the progress of the nation by offering the needed support to the government towards ensuring that the government will fulfil its promises to the people”.
He stated that “the era where the citizenry looked on unconcerned and expected the government to do everything on its own is over”, saying the government needed the advice, guidance and direction of the citizenry to formulate policies and programmes tailored towards improving the living conditions of the people.
Town Hall Meeting
Addressing a town hall meeting at Breman Asikuma in the Asikuma Odoben Brakwa District, Mr Dei indicated that the citizens were the originators of public policies and programmes which were subsequently implemented by the government for their own benefit.
The meeting, which was organised by the Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), provided an opportunity for the government to explain the implementation of policies such as planting for food and jobs, One District, One factory and free senior high school to participants.
He called on Ghanaians to take town hall meetings seriously and endeavour to attend to be well informed about the government policies and interventions so as to fine-tune them to propel the growth and development of the country.
He noted that the government organised and took advantage of such meetings to listen to the concerns of the populace, collate them and put them into a public policy for the ultimate benefit of all Ghanaians.
Monitor projects
Mr Dei stated further that Ghanaians were expected to be agents of development and that it was incumbent upon them to monitor the implementation of programmes and all development projects to achieve value for money.
“It is the civic responsibility of every Ghanaian to fully support the government in the discharge of its mandate since citizens are key stakeholders in the governance of the country,” he pointed out.
He stressed that the government’s resolve to fight illegal mining across the country was yielding positive results and that if the country’s water bodies were destroyed by illegal miners, “we may in the future import water for household and commercial activities”.
Exercise patience
The District Chief Executive for Asikuma Odoben Brakwa, Mr Isaac Odoom, called on the participants to remain patient and resolute as the government was taking gradual steps to address challenges confronting the country.
He also implored graduates to stop chasing non-existent white-collar jobs and rather acquire entrepreneurial skills that would enable them to start businesses on their own instead of remaining unemployed.
He, therefore, advised the youth not to see office work as the only option but rather start small businesses that would ensure growth in the private sector towards improving the country’s economy.
MP
The Member of Parliament for the area, Mr Anthony Effah, disclosed that Kuntanase, Bosomase, Twerdua, Brakwa Afofosu and Ohianhyeda would benefit from small town water projects in order to increase water supply in the district.
He stated that he had supplied some medical equipment to a number of health facilities to improve healthcare delivery in the area.
The Presiding Member of the assembly, Mr Frank Aidoo, in a welcome address, bemoaned the extreme partisanship among Ghanaians which was destroying the country.
He urged the participants to put their political party affiliations aside and rally behind the government to move the nation forward.