The Northern Regional Minister, Honourable . Shani Alhassan Shaibu hosted a capacity building

The Northern Regional Minister, Honourable  Shani Alhassan Shaibu hosted a capacity building programme on management, for the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) from Upper East, Upper West, North East, Savannah, Northern, and Bono East Regions.

The 3-Day activity, dubbed Zonal Refresher training forms part of the Ministry for Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development plan for the year, 2022.

The initiative provides the opportunity for all MMDCEs to share experiences with experts and senior policymakers, re-strategize and find practical approaches to solving local development challenges.

It also seeks to support them to improve their performance during their tenure of office as MMDCEs.

Honourable . Shaibu in his welcome address at the opening ceremony on Tuesday, 8 February 2022 expressed gratitude to the Minister for Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Hon. Dan Botwe for the initiative.

He also commended Hon. Botwe for the wonderful role he played in extending the frontiers of Ghana’s decentralization and development, including the creation of 6 more regions in the country.

He harnessed the opportunity to remind the MMDCEs that the whole activity is only a means to an end. Therefore, he expects it to reflect in their performance and service delivery. 

He emphasized that the role of MMDCEs in our local government is very crucial and therefore, nothing can be taken for granted in their performance. “Their actions and inactions impinge directly on the assessment of the government of the day and also reflect in the level of development in their various communities. 

Honourable Botwe who doubles as the Member of Parliament for the Okere Constituency in the Eastern region, in his keynote address, said, the training will enable the MMDCEs to find practical approaches to solving local developmental challenges, and further help them develop new leadership and managerial competencies and professionalism to enhance their performance as the chief representatives of the Central Government in the districts, as stipulated by the Article 243, Clause 2(c) of the 1992 Constitution.

Honourable Botwe referring to the MMDCEs orientation program held in Accra said
the Chairman for the occasion, Nana Otuo Siriboe II, Paramount Chief of the Juaben Traditional Area and Chairman of the Council of State cautioned MMDCEs to avoid needless confrontations with traditional authorities, MPs and Assembly Members; give others respect and show empathy to gain the affection of the citizenry.

He also indicated that they should not be armchair administrators and charged them to learn from His Excellency the President and engage all the communities in their respective areas of jurisdictions.

He admonished MMDCEs to interact with the citizenry to understand their needs and development goals and fashion out appropriate plans and programmes to address them. 

He further hinted that the basic ingredient for success is human relations and charged his Ministry to ensure all MMDCEs submit annual itineraries for interactions with residents at the beginning of the year and to request them to submit comprehensive reports of such visits undertaken at the end of each year.

Honourable Botwe added that, at the orientation program held in Accra, His Excellency the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in his keynote address, intimated that whether or not the mandate given him will be truly reflected in the lives of the people depended, to a large extent, on the leadership quality of MMDCEs at the local level. The president cautioned that his best efforts and that of his Ministers of State will be considerably undermined, if MMDCEs, responsible for local governments, do not perform creditably. 

“The people of Ghana would see and feel and know that what they voted for has truly arrived, only when their Chief Executives manage to deliver on the promises of government,” said the President.

Honourable . Botwe revealed that the vision of His Excellency the President concerning Local Governance and Decentralisation is to ensure that the living conditions of the citizenry are improved through the formulation of appropriate policies and implementation of these policies at the local level. “

“This, therefore, reflects the renaming of the Ministry as Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development,” he added.

He expresses his determination to prioritize MMDCEs training and development to help them succeed in their performance, as well as deepen local governance and decentralisation programme. “Therefore, the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS) is being retooled and revamped to be able to provide structured training to all categories of local government functionaries and staff.”

He encourages them to use the platform to engage their peers and experts to deepen their knowledge and understanding of local governance and decentralisation to improve their performance as MMDCEs.