Politics

‘Let’s internalise Ghana Beyond Aid at district level’

Metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs), have been urged to work to improve on productivity and develop competencies in their various districts to help achieve the government’s vision of ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ agenda.

Dr Nana Ato Arthur, the Head of Local Government Service (LGS), in a speech read on his behalf, at a consultative workshop on the orientation for and signing of Performance Management Contract (PMC) by MMDCEs, said, “We must not see it as mere rhetoric, but a determination to wean ourselves from being dictated by Bretton Wood institutions.”

“Such determination calls for a business minded public service, where our performance can be measured by any casual observer.”

The workshop, held in Tamale, brought together MMDCEs and coordinating directors from various districts in eight regions, including the Northern, North East, Savannah, Upper East, Bono, Bono East, Ahafo and Upper West regions.

The PMC is a systematic way of assessing and improving the performance of officials in public institutions to enhance productivity and achieve the full potentials of such institutions.

Dr Arthur mentioned that with the country’s lower middle income status, most support gotten from development partners were dwindling, and urged MMDCEs to harness the resources in their respective assemblies for the economic benefits of indigenes.

“If each of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the country are developed beyond aid, then we can confidently say that Ghana as a whole, is developed really beyond aid,” he added.

Touching on performance enhancement, the LGS head encouraged MMDCEs to assign roles of each performance area to respective heads of departments and units in order to improve on the wellbeing of the citizens.

Mr Salifu Saeed, the Northern Regional Minister, underscored the importance of team work in their various assemblies, and advised them to work with heads of department and units to increase productivity and accelerate development.

Mr Saeed Muhazy Jibril, the West Gonja District Chief Executive (DCE), speaking to journalists, underlined inadequate logistics as a major challenge affecting the performance of some assemblies.

He therefore appealed to stakeholders to help provide the needed resources to the assemblies in order to build their capacities and improve on their performance for sustainable growth.

GNA

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