From Ernest Best Anane
A new District Health Directorate has been commissioned at Manso-Nkwanta, the Amansie West district capital.
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr. Samuel Sarpong, performed the commissioning of the new offices of the District Health Directorate as part of a working visit to the district, during which he also commissioned a number of projects.
The Minister also cut the sod for the construction of a Children’s Ward at Manso-Nkwanta, and commissioned a 6-unit classroom, office and library at Manso-Kensere, being projects initiated by the government through the District Assembly.
Addressing Nananom and assembly members later, Dr. Sarpong called for collaboration between the government and stakeholders towards improving the living standards of the citizenry.
The Minister observed that the successful implementation of government business, particularly, at the local level, required the existence of good working relations among stakeholders of development such as the traditional authorities (Nananom), the Metropolitan, Municipal, District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), staff, assembly members, as well as the people at large.
He stated that the extent of success of the implementation of Ghana’s decentralisation programme largely depended on the degree of co-operation and responsiveness that exists between the various stakeholders in the districts.
Minister Sarpong, however, stressed that it was always important that members of the assembly in particular, cooperate with each other at any given moment to avoid unnecessary interruptions in their programmes and activities.
He entreated district chief executives, appointees and representatives of the people to cultivate good relations, qualities of co-operation, empathy, respect and love towards meeting the aspirations of their people.
The Regional Minister announced that the success of monitoring and coordination of MMDAs by the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) depended on the timely submission of relevant reports such as trial balance, projects, as well as administrative and situational reports among others, which are often delayed, thus losing their relevance and affect the assessment of their performance, including that of the FOAT and other important assessment tools.