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Dan Botwe urges MDAs to promote decentralisation agenda
The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Daniel Botwe has called on Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs) to exercise their functions well as slated in the Local Governance Act 2016, Act 936, to promote the decentralisation initiative.
He noted that the assemblies, as part of the Local Governance structure, were mandated to bring local governance to the people, adding they were in charge of the departments and all government projects in their jurisdiction.
“We all think there is an unfinished business in this decentralization thing. We have not paid much attention to it,” he said and called on the assemblies to be up and doing and ensure they go by their functions as stated in the Local Government Act, as well as take control of their development plan.
Mr Dan Botwe made these statements when he toured three municipalities including Lower Manya Krobo, New Juaben South and Abuakwa South in the Eastern region to inspect the progress of work made on the Ghana Secondary Cities Support Projects (GSCSP) which was funded by the World Bank.
The three municipalities, were among five other municipalities, including Upper West Akyem and Birim Central, in the region to have been selected to benefit from the project that was purposed to help to improve urban management and basic urban services in the beneficiary municipalities.
Construction of lockable stores, hostels, ultramodern markets, shopping mall, and redevelopment of the Koforidua Jacksons Park among other ongoing projects in the three municipalities were among 582 projects ongoing in 48 districts in the country.
Mr Dan Botwe also paid courtesy call on the Okyenhene,Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin in Kyebi and Nene Sackitey II,Konor of Lower Manya Krobo.
Speaking further, Mr Botwe explained that per the Act, “an Assembly member cannot go for an assembly meeting without meeting the people in their jurisdiction and after every assembly meeting, the person has to go back to meet the people again. It is in the law.”
“Decentralization occurs when the people in the assemblies take their own decisions, prioritize their needs and take annual action plans to ensure their needs are met,” he said.
He called on the assemblies to ensure that they account to the people in their jurisdiction and make them aware of the many projects ongoing in their communities that were meant to benefit them.
Speaking on the GSCSP projects, he was glad about the progress made and called the assemblies to own the projects and ensure that they yielded the needed results.
He noted that capacity building of the Local Government Service staff was necessary to enable them to deliver quality services to the people in their jurisdiction and hence the need for more education and sensitization.
He revealed several collaborations have been made with the Local Government Service to build the capacities of staff of the assemblies to enable them to deliver quality services needed for accelerated development in their communities.
“Some Assemblies are doing well in terms of ranking, but in totality, the average person should feel the presence of government and they can feel the government through government structures like the assemblies, unit committees and through other sub-structures of the assembly,” he said
He called on the media to also ensure that they hold the assemblies accountable and ensure they performed their functions based on what has been slated in the Local Government Act.
For his part, the Okyenhene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin noted that the centrality of governance was outdated and called on the government to ensure that decentralization was embraced to ensure accountability, transparency, ownership and development.
“It is when the people own their projects that we can ensure the development of this country,” he said and called on the government to emulate other developed countries that have embraced decentralization.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Seth Acheampong said he was encouraged by the progress on the (GSCSP) and said if they continued in the region would achieve the needed development in the area.
From Ama Tekyiwaa Ampadu Agyeman, Koforidua
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GEXIM deepens relations with US EXIM Bank
A management team of the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM) led by the Acting Chief Executive, Sylvester Mensah met with the leadership of the Export–Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM) on Wednesday April 23, 2025 in Washington DC, United States of America.
The Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM, Mr. James C. Cruse and Vice President, International Relations, Ms. Isabel Galdiz received the GEXIM delegation, which included Deputy CEO for Banking, Mr. Moses Klu Mensah and Head of International Cooperation, Mr. Jonathan Christopher Koney at the headquarters of US EXIM.
The meeting offered the GEXIM team the opportunity to share the strategic direction of the Bank in line with the resetting agenda of the President of the Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for the repositioning of the Ghanaian economy into an export-led one by providing the requisite investment to Ghanaian businesses.
Mr. James C. Cruse expressed US EXIM’s eagerness to deepen its existing relations with GEXIM and proposed the signing of a new Cooperative Framework Agreement following the expiration of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2019 to utilize US EXIM’s medium term loan guarantees to procure machinery by GEXIM for qualified Ghanaian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
Mr.Sylvester Mensah thanked the Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM for hosting the GEXIM delegation and reaffirmed the Ghanaian government’s commitment to strengthening trade and investment between Ghana and its global partners for economic transformation of Ghana with GEXIM playing a pivotal role.
The two teams will be meeting on the sidelines of the 2025 US EXIM Annual Conference on 29th and April 30, 2025 to explore possible areas of collaboration and matching Ghanaian businesses to American companies. The meeting ended with an exchange of gifts.
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Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation –Pres.Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has expressed concern over the misuse of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) for personal financial gain by individuals in leadership positions.
Speaking during a meeting with Chief Executives of specified entities under the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) on Thursday, March 13, the President directly attributed the dire state of SOEs to their leadership, accusing chief executives, management teams, and governing boards of prioritising personal enrichment over organisational efficiency.
He pointed to bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures as factors draining public funds while SOEs continue to rely on government bailouts.
“Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation by appointees. The chief executives, management, and boards of these enterprises are responsible for this situation. Some SOEs have become perennial loss-makers, draining public funds with bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures while relying on government bailouts as if entitled to them. Many of these entities are at their lowest point in the entire history of the Fourth Republic,” he said.
President Mahama further noted that many SOEs have been plagued by inefficiencies, corruption, and mismanagement, leading to consistent financial losses. He cited the 2023 State Ownership Report by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), which highlighted systemic inefficiencies and wasteful expenditures within these entities.
He therefore reaffirmed his commitment to reforming under-performing SOEs and ensuring they serve national interests.
He warned that loss-making SOEs will no longer be tolerated and will either be merged, privatised, or closed.
“I will assess you based on your performance. If you do not align with the pace of the reset agenda, you may be asked to step aside. If that adds to the horror movie, so be it,” he added.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
