ILGS TO START 4 MASTERS DEGREEE PROGRAMMES (PAGE 11, APRIL 16, 2010)

THE Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS) is to start four Masters Degree programmes in Local Government by December this year.
To this end, the ILGS is working closely with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the National Accreditation Board (NAB) to kick-start the programmes.
The National Deputy Director of the ILGS, Dr Callistus Mahama, made this known at the opening of a two-day retreat in Tamale on enhancing effective and sustainable working relations with development partners and stakeholders of local government for improved performance in the local government sector.
It afforded staff of the ILGS the opportunity to find out from clients such as the Northern Regional Co-ordinating Council, civil society organisations and development partners their independent and candid views about the Institute’s performance so far in order to chart a new course for improved performance in the years ahead.
It was organised by the ILGS with support from the German Development Service (DED).
Dr Mahama intimated that the programmes were part of efforts by his outfit to play a leading role in ensuring that the required human resource base was developed to an appreciable level as a way of improving local governance delivery in the country.
According to him, the ILGS had been working closely with the DED for the past four years in the areas of research, education and capacity building, decentralisation and local governance as well as local economic development.
Dr Mahama indicated that although the ILGS, Tamale campus, was facing challenges like inadequate infrastructure, the Insitute was currently putting up a number of structures, including 300 classrooms, while seeking funding to expand its services and other facilities.
The Head of Programmes of the ILGS, Mr Richard Kambootah, said his outfit’s mission was to design, develop and deliver world class training and education, undertake research, consultancy and advisory services among other services.
“ILGS derives its strength from the synergies of working with other capacity-building and research organisations; the mandate of ILGS is derived from sections 2, 3 and 4 of the ILGS Act 2003(Act 647)” he added.
Mr Richard stated that the “ILGS’s relationship with the DED had been very cordial and mutually beneficial”.
In a speech read on his behalf by his Deputy, Mr Sam Nasamu Asabigi , the Northern Regional Minister, Mr Moses Mabengba, noted that the north still had the highest number of development challenges and expressed the hope that the retreat would help come out with concrete solutions that would shape the future of Northern Ghana for the better. Mr Mabengba reiterated the government’s commitment to bridging the development gap between the north and south through the implementation of the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA).
“We must create our own peace and take up our own development challenges to win the confidence and support of our development partners for the attainment of our development agenda” he stressed.
The Co-ordinator of Decentralisation of the DED, Madam Annette Tutmann, observed that development was not only about policies, reforms and money but mainly about human beings and therefore the processes had to be human-driven.