The Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Mr Daniel Botwe has tasked Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to be innovative with policies that will improve on the living conditions of the people.
“It is only when MMDCEs are innovative and accountable to the people will help with active participation in local governance in addressing challenges affecting them”, he stressed.
Mr Daniel Botwe gave the advice in Ho, the Volta Regional capital on Saturday when he addressed the finalle in the series of a three day refresher training course for MMDCEs drawn from Volta, Oti and the Greater Accra regions.
The training course was to equip MMDCEs with the requisite knowledge, skills, competencies and aptitudes for effective local leadership.
Similar training course had been held for all MMDCEs in the other thirteen regions.
The minister was of the view that after these capacity building programmes and subsequent ones, the ministry would devise appropriate strategies to obtain real time feedback from the MMDAs on the delivery of government programmes, and projects for evidence-based decision making and policy direction at the central government level.
He said the ministry would enhance the District Data Development Platform which is computerised data-based system to be accessed by MMDAs and the ministry.
The objective, he said, was to provide real time data for the assessment of district operations and performance.
Additionally, the ministry had initiated a process to develop a feedback ICT- based system known as ‘Dashboard’ to have direct feedback from MMDCEs on pertinent issues in the MMDAs.
“This will help to ascertain how well MMDCEs are doing and the quality of impacts they are making towards the realisation of the needs and aspirations of the people at the local level and their responsiveness to the government’s business,” he added.
The chairman for the occasion Nana Otuo Siriboe II, Paramount Chief of Juaben Traditional Area in the Ashanti Region, and chair of the Council of State cautioned, MMDCEs to avoid needless confrontations with traditional authorities.
“MPs and assembly members but respect and show empathy in order to gain affection of the citizenry,” he advised.
In his welcome address, the Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Letsa, urged the MMDCEs to take advantage of the programme to discuss experiences with some of the seasoned practitioners in the local governance space, to sharpen and broaden their horizons on how to function in their positions effectively.
He said with all these investments it was expected that participants would have no excuse to justify any low performance in their work.
FROM KAFUI GATI, HO
