By Benjamin Akoto
Sunyani, (Bono), Feb. 27, GNA-The Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs has disbursed GH¢980,732,648 under the District Assemblies Performance Assessment Tool (DPAT) for the execution of development projects, Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, the sector minister has revealed.
He said the disbursement was made under thecycle seven of the DPAT for the execution of physical development projects, cutting across water and sanitation, education and health, electricity, market, security, road, agriculture and energy sectors.
The DPAT is a diagnostic instrument for assessing the performance of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) for determining the allocation of the District Assembly Common Fund for Responsiveness Factor Grant (DACF-RFG) to the MMDAs.
Mr Ibrahim indicated that more than 10,000 basic school physical infrastructure projects had been constructed under the DACF-RFG programme.
The sector minister made this known at a meeting in Sunyani, as part of his working visit to the Bono Region, explaining that additional GH¢42,935,328 had been disbursed to the MMDAs for capacity building and procurement of essential logistics.
Together with some development partners, including the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO), and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), Mr Ibrahim is in the region to assess the impact of the programme.
They inspected 10-lockable stores constructed at Fiapre, as well as a three-unit classroom block constructed for the Fiapre TI Ahmadiyya Basic School in the Sunyani West Municipality.
Mr Ibrahim explained that the DACF-RFG Programme had distributed farming equipment and constructed warehouses, school blocks and health facilities, market infrastructure, electricity extensions as well as police stations and improved water systems.
“These aren’t isolated interventions, they are deepening Ghana’s decentralization agenda and delivering visible improvements in the lives of the citizenry”, Mr Ibrahim stated and commended the development partners for their sustained support to the nation for over the past eight years.
He said with the support and collaboration from the development partners, the nation’s decentralization agenda had been strengthened, expanding and addressing the deficit in rural physical infrastructure development.
Madam Janine Walz, the Deputy Ambassador of Switzerland, and Head of Cooperation, said the team was inspired by the Government of Ghana’s renewed commitment to the DACR-RFG programme.
She explained that their visit and assessment were to determine whether the government’s commitment was translating into measurable impacts in service delivery and accountability, saying the support was based on performance in ensuring that citizenry benefit directly from the programme.
Mad Amelie Stanzel, the Country Director, KfW, added that Germany and Ghana had partnered in advancing the decentralisation system for nearly 20 years, stressing that strong local communities were fundamental to building vibrant democracy.
She said effective service delivery in healthcare, education, roads and storage facilities remained key objectives of the programme.
Mr Joseph Mensah, the Bono Regional Planning Officer explained that GH¢65,711,721.35 had been released to the region over the past seven years, disbursing GH¢63,670,117.03 for 233 completed projects.
The projects covered governance, roads, energy, security, water and sanitation, education, health, and economic development.
GNA
Edited by Dennis Peprah/Kenneth Odeng Adade