By Isaac Arkoh
Cape Coast, Feb. 10, GNA – Mrs Justina Marigold Assan, the Central Regional Minister, has expressed disquiet over the low output of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assembly (MMDAs) in their 2022 performance contract in the Region.
The report of the 2022 Monitoring and Verification exercise carried out by the Office of the Local Government Service revealed most MMDAs did not understand the Key Performance Areas.
She, therefore, charged Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MNDCEs) and their Coordinating Directors to learn from their failures by instituting feedback mechanisms and improve the organisational culture of considering mistakes as opportunities to grow.
Mrs Assan expressed the concerns when all the 22 MMDAs in the Region signed this year’s contract for accelerated development.
The pact, instituted by the Local Government Service, is hinged on improving the performance of MMDAs to boost productivity in line with the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936).
The annual performance challenge seeks to evaluate the performances of MMDAs and set new targets that reflect the government’s priorities in the performance of its core service deliverables.
It serves as a road map, providing a clear direction for their efforts and outlining objectives, targets, and strategies to improve the lives of people and ensure sustainable development.
Per the agreement, the Regional Ministers and their coordinating directors are required to deliver to shore up local revenue generation, education, infrastructure development, social protection and institutional capacity development.
Key indicators among the deliverables are holding statutory meetings, submitting reports and improving revenue.
The signup marked the end of 2023 and the formal inception of the 2024 Performance Cycles.
Mrs Assan signed as the Acting District Chief Executive for Twifo-Hemang-Lower-Denkyira and Awutu Senya whose DCEs have been removed from office.
Mr Michael Owusu Amoako, the Regional Coordinating Director, signed for himself whereas the MMDCEs and Coordinating Directors signed on behalf of the Assemblies.
The Regional Minister admonished the MMDCEs to ensure that the deeds of the contract were in alignment with the strategic plan of all decentralised departments to leverage effective service delivery at the local level.
She charged them to institutionalise effective reward systems and sanctions to create a robust performance culture to accelerate development across sectors.
“The MMDAs must painstakingly review and contextualise the indicators in the contract and come out with guidelines for rewards and sanctions this year,” she said.
“Let us acknowledge the hard work, creativity and collaboration that reinforce positive behaviour outcomes that we want to see in our staff and not fail to sanction where and when appropriate.”
Equally, she reminded them to work towards peace and peaceful co-existence in their jurisdiction before, during, and after the December 7 election.
They should also inculcate positive engagement with all stakeholders, motivate staff and engender teamwork and effective service delivery.
The Regional Coordinating Director, Mr Amoako and Dr Nunya John, the Dean of Coordinating Directors, pledged their commitment for collaborate to achieve the tenets of the contract.
GNA