FOUR DCES SWORN INTO OFFICE (PAGE 13, OCT 23, 2010)

FOUR new District Chief Executives in the Northern Region have been sworn into office at a ceremony in Tamale.
They are Mr Philip Laari, 60, a former Regional Commander of the Ghana Prisons Service for the Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo district, Mr Issah Zakaria, 50, an Educationist of the Yendi Municipality.
The rest are Mr Sulemana Issah, 48, a teacher of the Karaga District and Isaac Dramani, 40, an Accountant for the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District.
They were sworn-in by a Supervising High Court Judge, Justice Lawrene L. Mensah, in consonance with Article 243 of the 1992 constitution and section 20(1) of the Local Government Act 462.
Speaking after the ceremony, the Regional Minister, Mr Moses Magbenba, reminded the DCEs that the purpose for establishing the various district assemblies in Ghana was to among other things, ensure the full involvement of the local people in the decision making process.
He explained that the success of that initiative depended on some key values exhibited by the DCEs, namely honesty, commitment, firmness, probity, accountability and responsiveness to development issues, among others.
Mr Magbenba equally drew their attention to key provisions in the Local Government Act that related to their responsibilities.
“Clearly, as DCEs, you are supposed to lead the assembly in its development efforts by using the available human and material resources to implement planned programmes,” he pointed out.
The minister entreated the DCEs to provide leadership in the administration of their respective districts.
Mr Magbenba cautioned them against over-reliance on the district assemblies common fund and urged them to devise innovative ways of generating more local revenue for the accelerated development of the districts.
The Deputy Regional Minister, Mr San Nasamu Asabigi, told the new DCEs that the practice of swearing the official oath was to give them the opportunity to publicly demonstrate their total commitment to the implementation of the government’s policies, plans and programmes.
“By swearing the various oaths, you are going to pledge to act as effective agents of change for your people, give them sincere, honest and carefully thought-through advice on matters that come before you,” he explained.
Mr Laari pledged, on behalf of his colleagues, to help maintain relative peace by working hard to improve the security situation in their respective districts.
“Our administration will be an open one and opportunities will be granted to all, especially the youth and women who constitute the backbone of the development of any nation,” he stated.
Mr Laari further observed that all the four districts had similar challenges such as “security, chieftaincy, land and political disputes, road network and inadequate infrastructure”.
He was, however, glad that the issues about conflict in the Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo district was gradually being resolved, while the major ones such as youth unemployment, lack of potable water, inadequate health and educational facilities were yet to be addressed.