By Godfred A. Polkuu
Paga (U/E), Sept. 19, GNA – The Upper East Regional Minister, Alhaji Dr Hafiz Bin Salih, has cautioned officials of the 15 Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs) against extortion of monies from contractors.
He said there were reports of such acts by some MDA officials of not only extorting monies from contractors, but also from their colleague staff, particularly those of lower grades, under the pretense of securing them promotions and salary increments.
“We have received reports of extortions of monies from contractors and even staff particularly the lower grades under the pretense of securing them promotions and salary increments.
“You are hereby advised to desist from such unprofessional acts,” the Minister told staff and management when he paid a working visit to the Kassena-Nankana West District Assembly at Paga.
Alhaji Dr Salih had so far visited the Builsa North and South, the Kassena-Nankana Municipal Assemblies and scheduled to visit the remaining 11 MDAs of the Region in subsequent weeks.
He noted that the attitudes of staff towards work left much to be desired as acts of extortion did not augur well for the corporate image of the Assemblies and the local governance system.
“The Assembly is a public institution that should be providing social services and the enabling environment for governance,” he said.
The Minister told staff that they were the anchor of the Assembly and must, therefore, conduct themselves with ethical standards as the bedrock for public trust, “Your actions and attitudes set the tone for effective service delivery or otherwise,” he added.
He said, “As bureaucrats of our local government system at the district level, you are the pacesetters of governance and must be seen as such.”
Alhaji Dr Salih commended staff of the various MDAs who strived to make professionalism a hallmark of their daily activities and said they “must be motivated and urged to continuously uphold such cherished values.
“Don’t ever be discouraged because hard work pays and it comes in various ways,” the Minister told staff and management of the Kassena-Nankana West Assembly.
Mr Gerard Ataogye, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, said the Assembly had a total staff strength of 105 comprising 77 males and 28 females.
He said even though the Assembly block was constructed and use in March 2023, other government departments in the district, including the Health and Agriculture Directorates, Births and Deaths Registry, the Centre for National Culture among others were still housed in temporal office spaces.
He said some defects were detected on the barely one-year new Assembly block after the defect liability period, but the constructor had failed to remedy the defects, despite several letters to the Consultant and the Minister for Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development.
“When one looks at the ceiling of this conference hall, you will realize that it is beginning to fall off from the woodwork. It is our plea that you will intervene to get the contractor back to site to remedy the situation,” he told the Minister.
Mr Ataogye added that some other departments which were crucial to the administration of the Assembly but not in operation for luck of office space included the National Health Insurance Scheme, Legal Aid and Ghana Statistical Service among other departments.
“The lack of office accommodation for some departments and poor office space for others hampered effective administration and service delivery,” the DCE said.
GNA