Ministry will demand results from MMDCEs - Dan Botwe
The Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development will demand evidence-based results from the Metropolitan Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to ensure government's development agenda is felt across the country.
The sector Minister, Mr Dan Botwe, who stated this, said no excuses would be accepted from MMDCEs other than to work as the representative of the central government to ensure the people in the communities felt the impact of policies and programmes they voted for.
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At a workshop for MMDCEs from the Central, Eastern and Western regions in Cape Coast yesterday, Mr Botwe said the chief executives would be equipped with capacity and resources to enable them to deliver on that mandate.
Workshop
The three-day workshop, which is on the theme: "Effective Leadership for Transformation and Improved Service Delivery: The Role of MMDCES," is to help participants understand the Local Government system and deepen the knowledge on key policies and programmes to make them effective in their new roles.
Mr Botwe said at the end of the capacity-building workshops, the ministry would demand feedback on the delivery of evidence-based engagements and results from the MMDCE.
He reminded participants of the charges the Chairman of the Council of State, Nana Otuo Siriboe, and the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, gave them at the orientation in Accra.
Those charges, he said, included the fact that MMDCEs should not be armchair administrators nor engage in unnecessary controversies and confrontation but work to ensure that the citizenry in their communities benefited from what they voted for.
Build bridges
He urged them to engage the people in townhall meetings to explain government policies and programmes to them, saying he was certain that when the electorate understood the programmes, they would support the MMDCEs to achieve their goals.
He further advised them to build bridges by seeking ideas from key stakeholders in their areas, including traditional authorities, and set up inter-sectoral linkages to share experiences and knowledge that would promote accelerated development in the jurisdictions.
He said all major government programmes and policies, including the Planting for Food and Jobs and the digitalisation agenda, were very much local initiatives and their impact must be felt in the communities through the MMDAs.
Intensify monitoring
The Central Regional Minister, Mrs Justina Marigold Assan, for her part, said advancement in development worldwide required an effective local governance system that would provide globally acceptable standards and services while ensuring sustainable growth.
She urged the MMDCEs to use the resources entrusted to them judiciously to impact their districts.