Prez Calls For Co-operation Between MPs, MMDCEs

President Akufo-Addo has called for the establishment of a strong bond of co-operation between Members of Parliament and Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives.

The synergy between the two, according to the President, would help generate dignified and productive life for the Ghanaian people.

He made this known on Saturday November 10, when he addressed a joint workshop of MPs and MMDCEs from the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions.

“It is imperative, regardless of our political, ethnic or religious affiliations, that MPs and MMDCEs work together as a team, with the major objective of helping to improve the living standards of the Ghanaian people, and helping to build a progressive and prosperous nation. The reverse, i.e. turf wars and a breakdown in relationship, will certainly retard the process of development,” he said.

According to him, since the advent of the 4th Republic, Ghana has embarked on a path of systematic decentralization as the vehicle for development, and stressed that cooperation between the main protagonists (MPs and MMDCEs), is a prerequisite for a successful journey.

He reiterated that the new paradigm of effective governance demands maximum co-operation between Chief Executives and MPs, adding that the closer and more sincere will be the co-operation between these two principal actors, the greater and more extensive will be the development.

The President believes his vision of building a “Ghana Beyond Aid” can only be realised when the stakeholders, especially at the local level, partner to harness all the resources available to them efficiently for the benefit of their people.

Touching on Government’s flagship policies, he said policies such as the “Free Senior High School policy”, “One District, One Factory”, “One Village, One Dam”, “Planting for Food and Jobs”, “Cedi Equivalent of One million dollars per constituency per year” require maximum co-operation of MPs and MMDCEs for their effective implementation.

“The policies have the capacity to transform local economies, and bring wealth, jobs, progress and prosperity to every part of the country, so that your constituencies and districts become places where people move to, and not from,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo, thus, appealed for inter-district and constituency collaboration, in finding innovative ways of dealing with the vexed issues of sanitation, environmental degradation, crime and unemployment.

“The two groups of you must help device new ways of increasing the share of Internally Generated Funds (IGF) of the Assemblies to augment what the Central Government is able to provide. Government commits to evolve policy and law to create an enabling environment to facilitate these efforts,” the President added.

By: Emmanuel Yeboah Britwum