President's view on Assemblies is dangerous - Babgin

The Minority Leader in Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin has said any move by the government to make the District Assembly concept partisan is dangerous and injurious to progress and development at the rural community level.

He said if the Assembly concept was made partisan, it would divide the rural communities on party lines and development at the local level that depends on participation and involvement of all would come to a halt.

Mr Bagbin said this is an interview with "The Evening News" in reaction to President Kufuor's view that the District Assembly concept be made partisan. He explained that at the local level, the District Assemblies are to discuss local issues and that divisive party would not augur well at that level.

"We need to bring the people together to tap their potentials," he explained. "I am opposed to the Assemblies being partisan and I think that what we are practising now is in line and in conformity with the constitution," he stated.

Mr Bagbin said that the local level when a person is identified with a party and he or she invites people for communal labour, there would be no response and development would be in jeopardy. The Minority Leader remarked, "We have not reached a stage where the Assemblies can generate their own revenue to bring about the much needed development to the people.

"Making the Assemblies partisan at this stage would lead to a total collapse of the system, we have taken several years to build". Mr Bagbin said it was a fact that there were some people currently playing crucial roles in the advancement of the concept because of its non-partisan status and that such people would be alienated if the concept became partisan.