The Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Hajia Alima Mahama, gave accounts of what her ministry has been doing for the past 16 months at the Meet-The-Press series in Accra last Tuesday, May 8th 2018.

The sector Minister announced that the Office of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) had transferred a total amount of GH₵663,183,029.70 to all the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), covering all quarters of 2017, plus a total of GH₵48,715,708.86 to 46 participating MMDAs under the Urban Development Plan. Her Ministry, she said in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, had set up a technical committee to prepare a Local Government Financial Management Bill to incorporate municipal borrowing and the current financial memoranda.

Hajia Mahama pronounced that the government is in support of partisan election of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) from 2021.

She said sensitization and discussion with key stakeholders towards a survey in 2019 for the purpose is ongoing, to which the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) has come up with an all-inclusive road map to assist legislative assessments and stakeholders’ consultation towards the elections, adding that the feedback from engaging stakeholders in the Volta, Western, Central and Eastern Regions indicate colossal support for the partisan election of MMDCEs.

Government had created and inaugurated 38 new Municipal and District Assemblies all of which are functional with the aim of increasing citizens’ participation in democratic governance and 29 District Assemblies has been elevated to Municipal status with expanded functions including urban roads and transport management, she added.

Hajia Mahama recounted that a contract had been awarded for the construction of 20 District Assembly Administration blocks.

Speaking on development in the rural areas, the Minister said the government is providing community owned and managed small scale irrigation facilities across the country, markets are being developed and infrastructure maintained in every district to enhance domestic trading. She further stated that the Ministry of Local Government in partnership with the Irrigation Development Authority, had identified 1,221 potential dam sites suitable for the One-Village, One-Dam programme, of which 5 sites in each of the 64 Districts had been completed and a total of 196 sites confirmed as suitable for development.

According to her, 294 sub-projects including 140 plantations, 103 feeder roads and 51 small earth dams has been constructed by the Labour Intensive Public Works (LIPW) under the Ghana Social Opportunity Project (GSOP), creating employment for 32,695 people.

She disclosed that training, installation and deployment of ICT systems to the 216 MMDAs to transform registration process at the Birth and Death Registry has been completed.

By Bryan Bedu & Frankquophy A. Hanyabui (Tma Media)