Very Reverend Father Michael Kwaku Boahen, the Parish Priest of the Saint Peter’s Catholic Church, has advised the citizenry to eschew all negative tendencies that has the potential to undermine the peace, security, unity, growth and development of communities.
He urged them to be involved in the Metropolitan Municipal District Assemblies (MMDAs) election to select responsible assembly members who would pursue the growth, development and welfare of their communities.
Very Rev Fr Boahen who made the admonition in a town hall meeting said the church’s way of encouraging its members and the citizenry was to get involved in local governance and to also remind them of their civic responsibilities.
Organised by the Justice and Peace Commission of the Asuoyeboa Saint Peter’s Parish of the Catholic Church in collaboration with the Kwadaso Municipal Assembly, it was on the theme, ‘Community participating in local governance for rapid and sustainable development’ and was to sensitise the church community on their roles and responsibilities as the citizenry and the need for them to take interest in the work of the MMDAs.
Dr Samiu Kwadwo Nuamah, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwadaso Constituency in the Ashanti Region, reiterated that the MPs’ share of the District Assembly Common Fund be scrapped to relieve them of the additional responsibilities of undertaking development projects in their constituencies.
He suggested that the MPs’ share of the fund should be given to the MMDAs, in order to give the MPs enough time to concentrate on their core mandate which is to make laws for the country.
“The chunk of the funds allocated to MPs has been used to offer scholarships and not really injected into the physical development of the communities and I believe that if given to the assemblies, the funds can be put to better use.
“Since there is no constitutional backingto the MPs’ shareof the Common Fundcoupled with the fact that the MPsare not development agentsthat responsibility shouldbe reverted to the MMDAsand the fund scrapped,” Dr Nuamah stressed. -asempanews.com
