President Akufo-Addo has revealed that government is closer to the people than it has ever been in the history of the country.
He said the decentralisation reforms that started in 1988 with only 110 District Assemblies had made progress in several fronts.
President Akufo-Addo in an inaugural speech delivered on his behalf at Hohoe by Dr Eric Oduro Osae, noted that as the membership of the District Assembly was being constituted, it was envisaged that new ideas and opportunities would emerge to deepen the deliberative, legislative and executive functions of the District Assembly.
President Akufo-Addo said the Assembly Members had the mandate to deliberate, plan, mobilise resources and make decisions including by-laws to ensure the transformation of their District towards the Ghana all wanted.
He urged the Members to also establish strong partnerships and collaborate with the local structures particularly, the urban, town, zonal and area council, the unit committees and traditional authorities as well as other identifiable groups to facilitate the work of the Assembly.
“It is through these partnerships and collaborations that the ideals of local governance are optimised for the benefit of the people.”
He said the Assembly was being inaugurated at a time when efforts were being made by government through the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development (MLGDRD) to improve on the mobilisation of Internally Generated Funds (IGFs) of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.
President Akufo-Addo called on the Members to work closely with each other to create innovative ways of mobilising the needed resources for the development within their areas.
He said the government was keen on building the capacity of the Members to provide local leadership.
“We have retooled the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS) with the state-of-the-art facilities and other training resources to enable them effectively provide the needed training for your competence enhancement.”
GNA