District Chief Executives must be elected

Tema, May 5, GNA - Participants at a Local Government workshop in Tema on Thursday called for the election of District Chief Executives and other assembly members to ensure their accountability to the electorate.

According to them, every member of the assembly, including the Chief Executive, must be elected and not appointed as being done currently, to guarantee their independence from any political influence. The participants made the call at a day's workshop for the Trade and Industry Committee of the Tema Municipal Assembly (TMA).

It was organized by the Corporate Social Responsibility Movement (CSRM), a Tema-based NGO on the theme: "Enhancing Corporate Social Responsibility and Local Government".

The participants suggested that district assemblies should be allowed to disburse their own funds instead of the Regional Coordinating Council doing so for them.

They called on the government to allocate and release more funds to the assemblies to enable them to maintain and attract more experts. Dr Raymond Atuguba, Executive Director of the Legal Resources Centre, noted that even though district assemblies wield a lot of power under the constitution and other laws in the country, assembly members underestimate those powers. He said granting of building permits, liquor licensing and registration of births and deaths were some of the responsibility of the assembly.

Dr Atuguba urged district assembly members to take up the responsibility of serving the public interest instead of seeking political interest.

On the issue of corporate social responsibility, he noted that companies only aim at making profit regardless of the implication their operations have on the people, citing the effect of industrial waste in Tema on the Chemu Lagoon and that of mining companies on the mining areas.

He said even though there was no clear policy on corporate social responsibility, assemblies could pass regulations to tame the damages caused by companies to the society.

He encouraged shareholders of companies, human rights activists and the general public to take the right measures in ensuring corporate responsibility.

For instance, he said, Parliament could be petitioned on the harmful effects of a company whose activity is deemed unhealthy to the community.