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Dr Nana Ato Arthur — Head of Local Government Service
Dr Nana Ato Arthur — Head of Local Government Service

Be innovative - Dr Arthur tells presiding members

The Head of Local Government Service, Dr Nana Ato Arthur, has challenged presiding members of the various metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) to be innovative when it comes to the development of their assemblies.

According to him, presiding members are crucial in the local governance architecture of the country.

Their role, he said, was more akin to a Speaker of Parliament, as he presided over meetings of the assembly, where important decisions concerning the assembly were made.

“They must be innovative and use all the expertise at their disposal for the betterment of the assemblies,” he said.

Dr Arthur also cautioned the assemblies to desist from awarding contracts that were not supported with adequate funding, saying such a phenomenon had led to many uncompleted projects.

Conference

Dr Arthur was speaking at the Greater Accra annual conference of presiding members in Accra

The conference brought together all the presiding members of the region to deliberate on issues on security, sanitation, health, good governance and development.

It would also serve as a training ground for members to strategise towards the development of the region.

Sanitation and waste management also formed an integral part of their conference.

Election of MMDCEs

A member of the Council of State, Mr Enoch Teye Mensah, said it was important for the assemblies to continue with the conversation of electing metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs).

He said the election of MMDCEs was long overdue and must be implemented to make it a feature of the country’s local governance system.

Education

The Dean of presiding members, Mr Joseph Korto, called on his colleagues to place premium on education as it was the bedrock of education.

“Since education is the only weapon that society can use to level up, I will want to suggest that we intensify education in our various districts to fight the disease,” he said.

He commended the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Mr Henry Quartey, for his innovations in keeping the city clean and appealed to his colleagues to offer the minister maximum support to achieve health and sanitation goals.

"The Regional Minister's operation clean your frontage and the demolition of unauthorised structures on waterways, among many others, cannot yield positive impact without the support of the assemblies in the region,’ he said.

He described the Regional Minister as a courageous leader with high level of intelligence who needed their support for the Greater Accra Region to work.
Mr Korto further appealed to the executive and legislative arms of government to take steps to improve the conditions of service of members across the country.
Souce : GNA

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