Tamale-Tuesday February 8, 2022: The 3rd in a series of a 3-day zonal refresher course for Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) has commenced in Tamale with a call on MMDCEs to work hard towards the realization of the President, Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo Addo’s vision. The Minister for Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development, Honorable Daniel Botwe made this call at the official opening of the 3-day course on leadership and management for sixty-six (66) MMDCEs drawn from the Upper West, Upper East, North East, Northern, Savannah and Bono East Regions.
Honorable Daniel Botwe encouraged MMDCEs to engage their peers and experts in order to deepen their knowledge and understanding of local governance and decentralization to improve their performance. He indicated that the Ministry will continue to promote inter-sector and agency collaboration to avoid duplication in the implementation of the Government’s initiatives.
The Northern Regional Minister, Hon. Shani Alhassan Saibu, who delivered the welcome statement, reminded MMDCEs of the importance of the course and urged them to ensure the training reflects ultimately in improved performance and service delivery. He mentioned that many District Assemblies (DAs) in his Region are unable to mobilize up to 50% of projected annual revenue, a situation which makes the Assemblies depend heavily on the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) and other funding sources to perform their functions.
He hinted that the Northern Regional Coordinating Council (NRCC) would intensively engage MMDAs within the Region from February 11, 2022, to tackle the issue of low revenue generation and other related matters. He underscored the important role MMDCEs play in the scheme of local governance which he said makes them the easiest point of criticism while their actions and inactions provide a reflection of the performance of the government as well as meeting the felt needs of the citizenry.
The program was graced by some government functionaries including the Head of the Local Government Service, Ing. Dr. Nana Ato Arthur, and the Director for Management and Technical Services at the Office of the Head of the Local Government Service, Mrs. Lilian Baeka.