Sogakope Assembly demands accountability from schools

THE Executive Committee of the Sogakope District Assembly has directed the two senior secondary schools in the district to account for monies so far collected from students for the establishment of an education endowment fund.

This is to ensure that levies on students of Sogakope Secondary School and Dabala Secondary Technical are properly utilised in order to encourage parents to sustain contributions into the fund to enhance education in the district.

This report was contained in an executive committee report presented at the first ordinary meeting of the first session of the assembly held at Sogakope.

The report stated that 30 teacher trainees are to be sponsored annually on an annual stipend of ? 1 million per student.

In an address, the Presiding Member, Mr P.Y.M. Dawukpor expressed concern about the inability of the internal audit unit of the assembly to furnish him with an audit report, adding that “ this contravenes Section 120 (3) of the Local Government Act, 1993, Act 462.

He also said he has not been allocated an office and has been compelled to transact business with clients under trees, on verandas or at any convenient place as dictated by circumstances.

In a sessional address, the District Chief Executive, Mr Daniel Eworyi, said the assembly collected an amount of ?371.189 million out of the ?397.817 million projected for last year, adding that it represents 93.3 per cent of projected revenue.

He said a total of ?1.3 billion was spent on various projects funded under the District Assembly Common Fund, the Village Infrastructure Project and the Danish Support to District Assemblies (DSDA II) programme.

The projects include the construction of area council offices at Agave-Afedume and Larve, the renovation of area council offices at Dabala and Sogakope, the procurement of 19 concrete electricity poles and the electrical wiring of the Sogakope Market and the Social Welfare building.

Others are a ?600-million bridge at Zukpedzi to link Lakpo and Agbogbla to farming to farming lands and marketing centres.

Mr Eworyi appealed to well-meaning citizens of the districts to assist teachers who have been posted to their communities with accommodation in order to make them comfortable for them to stay longer to deliver quality service.