EARLY WARNING SYSTEM NECESSARY TO AVOID CONFLICT — PREZ (PAGE 55)

THE President, Mr J.A. Kufuor, has urged metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) to be vigilant and look out for early warnings on trouble spots in their respective areas, particularly as the December national elections approaches.
He also advised them to be cautious in the application of resources, dissemination of information, management of infrastructure development, promotion of service delivery and also ensure peace and security in their localities.
‘‘While chief executives must keep themselves informed and maintain an open mind, timely action is essential and, therefore, I expect you to take warning signals seriously. This will require you to exercise good judgement in order to identify what are real and what are false alarms,’’ President Kufuor said.
The President gave the advice in an address read on his behalf by the Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment at the mid-year review meeting of MMDCEs of the northern sector in Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region at the weekend.
The two-day meeting, which was also attended by other stakeholders in local governance, was on the theme, ‘‘Accelerating Local Development through Performance Assessment, Partnerships and Productivity’’.
The President noted that besides conflicts, one other problem the chief executives needed to work on seriously was waste collection in their localities, especially in the cities, adding that they should carefully consider instructions from the sector minister.
President Kufuor also charged the chief executives to maintain a good relationship with all key players in their respective jurisdictions, including Members of Parliament, and always show courtesy, decorum, effective communication and a willingness to work with them for the good of the area.
‘‘I believe that a demonstration of goodwill indicates one’s good intentions and a first step in ensuring collaboration,’’ he added.
He said it was also important that the assemblies recognised that they could not achieve development on their own and that in the interest of optimal use of financial, human, information and other resources, they should recognise and engage potential partners from the private, public and non-governmental sectors.
President Kufuor noted that over the past eight years the government had provided an enabling environment in which the citizens, as stakeholders, the media and other civil society organisations were increasingly taking their rightful role in governance, stressing that the assemblies, therefore, had a more discerning audience which demanded that they should be more informed and exacting.
“The challenge is to ensure that they live up to expectation by delivering their functions and meeting their targets in a timely, equitable and adequate manner. Therefore, efficiency, as well as effectiveness, should be the hallmark of the assemblies,” he emphasised.
The Deputy Minister of Local Government, Alhaji Awudu Yeremiah, who read the sector minister’s speech, said as leaders of the local government system, the chief executives were the focus for development initiatives in their respective areas.
He noted that “to succeed, you should exhibit effectiveness and efficiency in your work through the promotion of participation, accountability, openness, transparency, inclusiveness and proper delivery of services and always remember the logo of the Local Government Service, which is Decentralisation, Democracy and Development, and try to be practical ambassadors of this logo”.
The Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, in a welcoming address, said it was incumbent on the chief executives to explore more effective participatory methods and strategies to promote institutional links with some development partners such as churches, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and associations within civil society which continued to provide support to meet the needs of society.