Dr. Nana Ato Arthur said this is to enhance the decentralization agenda of the government.

[contextly_sidebar id=”1YkaYaCvI2uHVRNBvxOA16Mpm8TMvbVA”]He told Citi News work will commence after the completion of staff allocation on Wednesday.

Parliament in 2017,  passed a bill to allow the creation of the new districts.

The Local Government Minister, Hajia Alima Mahama, stressed that it will bring development closer to the people.

Dr. Ato Arthur said he is confident of the contribution of the new districts to national development.

“The indication is that, we inaugurate 15^th of this month, that is on Thursday. That is why from the office of the Head of Local Government Service, the staff who will be working in these places, have to be in place by 14^th of March, that is Wednesday, so that by 15^th when they are being inaugurated, the staff will be there already and they will be shown to the community or the people that these are the staff who will be starting the new municipalities,” he told Citi News.

See the full list of new districts below:

LIST OF DISTRICTS

• Ahafo Ano South West District Assembly

• Ahafo Ano South East District Assembly

• Amansie South District Assembly

• Amansie West District Assembly

• Atwima Nwabiagya North District Assembly

• Adansi South District Assembly

• Akrofruom District Assembly

• Adansi North District Assembly

• Adansi Asokwa District Assembly

• Obuasi East District Assembly

• Afigya Kwabre South District Assembly

• Afigya Kwabre North District Assembly

• Pru West District Assembly)

• Pru East District Assembly)

• Berekum West District Assembly)

• Assin North District Assembly

• Gomoa Central District Assembly

• Gomoa East District Assembly

• Asene Manso District Assembly

• Okere District Assembly

• Atiwa West District Assembly

• Atiwa East District Assembly

• Fanteakwa South District Assembly

• Fanteakwa North District Assembly

• Nanton District Assembly

• Bunkpurugu District Assembly

• Yunyoo District Assembly)

• Bolga East District Assembly

• Garu District Assembly

• Tempane District Assembly

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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She said this would help improve service delivery to stakeholders, in particular, to build a better Ghana, adding that they must be able to identify the resources they need to implement their policies.

Hajia Mahama said this at the signing ceremony of the 2018 Performance Contract between the 10 regional ministers and regional coordinating directors in Accra on Friday.

She said the priority areas of the Contract include local revenue generation, education, infrastructural development, social protection, and institutional capacity development.

She said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s commitment to positioning Ghana Beyond Aid was driven by initiatives such as the “One District–One-Factory,” “One Constituency One Million Dollars,” and “Planting for Food and Jobs,” and that they would not see the light without strong local governance institutions to drive them.

“This is mainly because the point of implementation of these projects is at the metropolitan, municipal and district assembly levels, which you supervise, and it is, therefore, timely that the service sets realistic and achievable targets aimed at contributing towards the implementation of these flagship projects,” she said.

She urged the directors to use their experience over the years to guide and support the ministers to succeed and said government was appreciative of the numerous initiatives undertaken to drive administrative decentralisation and ensure effective delivery of quality service and would continue to support their efforts.

Hajia Mahama reminded both parties that it was their collective responsibility to ensure their success, urging the regional minister to support the directors to deliver on targets.

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Source: GNA

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Persons who wish to register names such as Nana, Naa, Junior among others, have been turned away in recent times by the Births and Deaths Registry with a reason that such names are considered as titles.

[contextly_sidebar id=”bxuZxNht51C1ZRv7uu1J2Mg3HNTD9OiR”]The Ministry was summoned after the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, put forward a request, while questioning the Births and Deaths Registry’s power to issue and apply such directives.

Making his case before the House, Mr. Iddrisu said: “I have with me here, the Daily Heritage newspaper with a caption headline, Ghanaians angry over ban on names such as Nana, Nii, Maame, Junior…I am raising this so that this house will summon the Minister for Local Government and the management of the Births and Deaths Registry to explain to this House where the source of their power is.”

‘Blacklisting names illegal’

The Births and Deaths Registry’s decision has been widely criticized by Ghanaians, including Legal Practitioner, Ace Ankomah who has described the move as illegal.

The Registrar at the Births and Deaths Registry, John Yao Agbeko, however justified the action, saying the law governing the Registry’s operations – Act 301 (1965), gives them the power to do so.

“There is a law that regulates the activities of the Births and Deaths registry, that law is the Births and Deaths Registration Act 301 of 1965. In this Act, we have a function for the Minister to do a regulation. In the regulation, there is a function for the Registrar to come out with a mode of operation.”

“…So even though you will not read it in the Act, the regulation allows the registrar to come out with the mode of operation to manage the place, and that is what we have done. That is why if you go to Tamale, the one over there will tell you that you cannot register that name. If you pick that same name and you run to Accra, in order to do same, you will be told you can’t do it,” he explained on the Citi Breakfast Show on Thursday.

But Ace Ankomah pointed out that what the Registry was doing “is not in the law, and it is also not in the regulation that was supposed to have been made under the 1965 Act.”

Occupy Ghana petitions AG over blacklisted names by Births and Deaths

Pressure Group, Occupy Ghana, has written to the Attorney General, Gloria Akuffo, to complain about the Births & Deaths Registry’s action.

Occupy Ghana in the letter argued that, the Registry’s action has no basis in law, and charged the Attorney General to take steps to address the issue since it is a gross violation of the rights of Ghanaians.

“We have however checked that Act and all relevant laws including the Regulations passed under the Act. We have not seen any provision that either supports this policy or gives the Registrars of Births and Deaths any power to refuse to register any name. We believe that this stance is a gross violation of the rights of Ghanaians to choose names (particularly Ghanaian names) as they deem fit for their children, subject to the right to change one’s name at any time later in life,” the letter said.

Occupy Ghana in the letter, which was also copied to the Local Government Minister, called on the Attorney General to order the Registry to stop such acts, else they will proceed to court within the next 30 days.

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By: Marian Ansah & Duke Mensah Opoku/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

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When the move goes through, the Western Region will have 1 metropolis, 10 municipalities, and 21 districts.

[contextly_sidebar id=”O7i9IKGnV8S3fJjtf0BjGffUPEVbs0Y2″]Government’s proposal is that, the Effia-Kwesimintsim Sub metro, which is one of the three sub-metros making up the current Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly, should be split for the two towns to stand alone and elevated to two separate municipalities; thus Effia Municipality and the Kwesiminstim Municipality.

The Sekondi Takoradi Metropolis will also be split to have separate assemblies for Sekondi, Takoradi and Essiakadu Ketan districts.

Speaking to Citi News, the Western Regional Director of the Electoral Commission Stephen Opoku Mensah said the directive was an executive instrument from the President Nana Akufo Addo to the Electoral Commission, following which the commission will start some consultative works after instructions from the EC headquarters.

Processes to begin the creation of these districts have however been put on hold by the Electoral Commission for now.

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By: Obrempong Yaw Ampofo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Gov’t proposes 8 new districts for Western Region appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The proposed districts including East and West Mamprusi, will be in line with the local government reforms.

President Nana Addo was addressing the chiefs and people of Mamprugu traditional area at the forecourt of the Nayiri palace in Nalerigu.

The President, who is on a three-day tour of the region, added that Nantong and Yunyoo will be upgraded.

Currently, Nantong is part of the Savelugu municipality called Savelugu/Nantong, while Yunyoo is tied to the Bunkprugu district named Bunkprugu/Yunyoo.

Interestingly, Savelugu/Nantong and  Bunkprugu /Yunyoo  witnessed political upheavals by some irate youth of the governing New Patriotic (NPP) during the nomination of Municipal, Metropolitan and District Chief Executives.

Whereas those in Savelugu/Nantong finally backed down their protest, the Bunkprugu/Yunyoo  nominee was rejected after three unsuccessful confirmation  by members of the assembly.

President Nana Addo’s announcement of the creation of those two new districts gave residents there a sigh of relief.

They applauded government’s decision, and pledged their commitment to deepen peaceful  coexistence to make the proposal feasible.

President Nana Addo revealed that, government has secured $45.7 million for the rehabilitation and expansion of water systems across three regions of the country.

He assured the Nayiri that a chunk of the said amount will be spent on rehabilitating the water systems in Gambaga, Nalerigu and Walewale.

He said works on the water rehabilitation and expansion systems will commence before the end of 2017.

He reaffirmed government’s endeavour to connect several communities in the north to the national electrification grid.

The Nayiri commended government for implementing pro poor policies needed to improve the wellbeing of Ghanaians.

He emphasized the need for government to lobby investors to explore the large lime deposit in Mamprugu land.

He said several communities within his jurisdiction lacked electricity, and therefore called for the construction of a sub power station in Nalerigu to feed the deprived communities.

He further decried the deplorable road network in Mamprugu which requires rapid attention.

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives’ (MMDCEs) caucus of the Northern Region, say they took the decision  by themselves in order to place a ceiling on the amount to contribute, to avoid instances where MMDAs are forced to overspend for such trips.

[contextly_sidebar id=”vDYAuOAJEIbsXtZRUwGFSPCROtXAXu78″]But according to O.B Amoah, the Ministry has not authorized any such payment as being imposed by the Northern Regional Coordinating Council on the 26 MMDAs in the region.

Citi News gathered that, the Northern Regional Coordinating Council had tasked each of the 26 MMDAs in the 3 regions of the North to contribute GH¢ 5,000 each to make arrangements towards President Akufo Addo’s visit which begins today [Monday].

The Northern Regional Minister, Alhassan Issahaku in a leaked memo urged the MMDAs to treat the matter with “urgency” ahead of the President’s visit.

According to the leaked letter, the amount must be paid by close of day on Monday to ensure a successful organization of the President’s tour of the Northern Region.

But the Akuapem South legislator, O. B. Amoah, in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show said the Ministry has not sanctioned such levy.

“As far as we are concerned, this is not sanctioned and nobody is authorized to pay anything towards the president’s visit. The Presidential office will have their own arrangement when it comes to such trips. And I expect that the RCC should be able to know that this is not the situation where you should ask any district to make any contribution towards the president’s visit,” he said.

“It is unknown and not sanctioned… I don’t think it is the right thing to do. If for any situation the president visits a district and the district has to cater for some aspect of the visit, that should be well documented and authorized,” he added.

President Nana Akufo-Addo, is expected to tour the three regions of the north within seven days from Monday, October 2, 2017, to Sunday, October 8, 2017.

This follows similar tours of the Ashanti and Western Regions earlier in 2017.

What has been the practice?

Assemblies bearing part of the cost for presidential visits is not new.

Although the presidency has its own budgetary allocation, assemblies in all successive governments are often forced to bear part of such cost for the president’s trips, despite the huge financial challenges most of them are faced with, which hampers development.

Sadly, most of these assemblies have not received their full budgetary allocations from the Central Government, and they also generate very little on their own.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Don’t pay for Nana Addo’s visit – O.B Amoah to MMDAs appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He said the proposals do not reflect the party’s stance on effective democracy.

[contextly_sidebar id=”1fsvX8h2t7GQySRbaouoxapzl3dSXXeC”]The governing NPP at its 25th annual delegates’ conference held in Cape Coast over the weekend received proposals for making some amendments to its constitution.

Some of the proposals include an expansion of its electoral college to include more delegates who will elect the party’s national executives.

Only 5,000 delegates are allowed to vote for national officers at the party’s congresses but the current proposal seeks to have the number increased to 150,000 to be at par with the number of delegates who vote for to choose a flagbearer at the party’s presidential primaries.

Among the proposals was also for Members of Parliament to be allowed to elect their constituency executives.

This comes after reports of resistance and fracas between some Members of Parliament and the party’s constituency executives.

It is believed that if the MPs are given the power to appoint their preferred options for the constituency positions, they will be able to work effectively together.

But according to Mr. Kyei Baffour the proposals are not worth consideration.

“I look at it as a desperate attempt of Members of Parliament to address the challenging issues of very high attrition rate of MPs in parliament that is a major concern….I am very hopeful that these proposals cannot find root in the party. For MPs to appoint constituency executives, it is a non-starter, it can’t happen. For MPs to appoint polling station executives, it can’t happen,” he said.

Meanwhile, some constituency chairmen are already kicking against the proposals.

The Chairman of NPP in Shama, Richard DeGraft Tawiah at Shama, Chairman for Essikadu-Ketan James Obeng Junior and Chairman for Ahanta West constituency, Jonathan Ayepah have said the proposal will rather hurt the party’s future if it is adopted.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to the Service, the report of such development is ‘misleading’ and does not reflect the true situation.

According to the Local Government Service (LGS), it is currently reshuffling Coordinating Directors of all the 10 regional Coordinating Councils and Municipal, Metropolitan and District Assemblies.

It was reported in a section of the media last week that the 108 coordinating directors had been replaced.

The report said the government has relieved some 108 Municipal and District Coordinating Directors in the various Local Assemblies of their post and have replaced them by the postings of some new officers approved by the authorities under the service.

But a statement signed by Mr Joseph A. Ankamah, the Head of Public Affairs at the Office of the Head of Local Government Service (OHLGS), said the circulated story was untrue.

“The Office of the Head of the Local Government Services (OHLGS) wishes to inform the general public that both the caption and content of the said post is not correct and totally misleading as it does not reflect the true situation.”

“It must be noted that the OHLGS is responsible for the human resource management function of the LGS and in connection with this, an exercise is being undertaken to reshuffle Coordinating Directors across the 10 Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs) and 216 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the country.”

The Service collaborates with other national institutions to facilitate ongoing local government reforms to ensure that local government administration measures up to international best practices.

It is also responsible for training and career development of the staff of local government institutions to ensure the delivery of value for money services.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to him , employees should desist from engaging in unproductive activities on social media during working hours.

“It is worthy to note that a number of the Professional Classes in the Service have created platforms on social media to share information. While this is laudable, let me caution you against the abuse and misuse of these platforms to propagate falsehood which may be detrimental to the service”, he added.

Ing. Dr. Ato Arthur gave the warning on Tuesday in Sunyani as part of his Nationwide tour of the country.

He further cautioned against the misuse of the assembly’s resources during the transitional period and warned that officers found culpable will face the necessary sanctions.

He maintained government had done a lot to ensure the Local Government System functions effectively and mentioned the introduction of the new Decentralization Policy, Review of Electoral Areas, Composition of Unit Committees, Transfer of Staff from Civil Service to Local Government Service, introduction of District Development Fund and Urban Development Grant as clear examples of the many successes chalked.

The Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh in his welcome address said the ecology of the region makes it a major tourist centre and the food basket of the country, producing about 30% of the nation’s food requirement and therefore called on investors to consider directing their resources to the region.

He tasked MDAs to be innovative, demonstrate leadership and professionalism as a way of contributing to the successful implementation of the decentralization process.

The Regional Minister appealed to Government and the Local Government Service to organize induction training sessions for the new MDCEs to prepare them for effective and efficient administration of the MDAs.

The Chief Director of the OHLGS, Joseph Dasaana explained the engagement was to update staff on new developments at the service, explain new reforms and also afford them the opportunity to have first hand concerns of staff at their work places.

Participants were later schooled on Human Resource (HR) issues, Workings of the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS) and ICT.

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By: Mashoud Kombat/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Stop ‘wasting’ working hours on social media – Local Gov’t Service appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

She said this is important “for effective and timely implementation and achievement of [the President’s] intended results.”

Hon. Hajia Alima Mahama was speaking at a 3-day retreat organised by the Office of the Head of Local Government Service. The maiden meeting is part of the annual review mechanisms of the Local Government Service.

Held for the various regional coordinating directors and directors at the office of the Head of Local Government Service, the meeting was to help the Head of Local Government Service, IMG. Dr. Nana Ato Arthur, familiarize himself with the service, and also find the best possible ways to work towards achieving his vision.

Hon. Hajia Alima Mahama noted that, “government is on an economic transformation and job creation agenda through industralization, agriculture and services.”

“Accordingly, work is currently ongoing for the development of a results framework, monitoring Matrix and a comprehensive implementation plan for the new Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) that links the goals, objectives and strategies with indicators and targets. The framework will cover MLGRD’s general administrative mandate, as well as those of the sustainable development goals and government’s manifesto promises.”

She noted that, “it is therefore necessary to have your plan and government’s plan in sync, this will go a long way in achieving the vision of transforming Ghana in agriculture, industries and service.”

She also admonished the Directors to “see each other as links within the long chain of the Local Government Service. The success of the Service depends on the support and cooperation you give each other.”

The Head of the Local Government Service, Dr. Nana Ato Arthur, also re-echoed the need for all directors, “to place emphasis on the six service delivery standards.”

He asked that “as role models in the service who the generality of the staff look up to, we should allow these attributes not only to permeate our value systems but also be our guiding principle, in addition to the ethics and code of conduct of the service.”

He advised also that Directors “work with utmost dedication and commitment for the rest of the staff to emulate.”

Dr. Ato Arthur hinted that, “the Office of the Heads of Local Government Service had engaged nine consultants to conduct an independent Monitoring and Verification exercise on actual performance of the Regional Coordinating Councils and the Municipal, Metropolitan, District Assemblies in 2016.”

He thus urged all “regional coordinating directors to provide the needed support to the Monitoring and Verification consultants.”

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By: Lauretta Timah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Create platforms to support gov’t policies – Coordinating directors urged appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.