Parliament takes on issue of ex gratia for former DCEs

Accra Nov. 7, GNA- The ex gratia awards of 17 of the remaining 52 District Chief Executives (DCEs) under the Government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have not been paid due to legal issues raised against them.

Mr Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment, announced in Parliament on Tuesday that Government had already paid 58 of the former DCEs their ex gratia awards.

He said in an answer to a question by Mr Evans Paul Aidoo-NDC Sefwi Wiawso on why the former DCE's had not been paid their ex gratia awards, that in effect, 35 former DCE's were yet to be paid. Mr Asamoah-Boateng however, said there was a procedure to follow before the former DCE's were paid, and asked them to apply with copies of their appointment, revocation letters and their last pay slips. "On receipt of the application, the Ministry submits them to the Auditor General's Department where appropriate computations are made and submitted to the Chief of Staff and Minister for Presidential Affairs for payment", Mr Asamoah Boateng said.

The Minister, who is also the MP for Mfantseman West announced that the Local Government Council had begun a process to integrate decentralized departments into the Assemblies at the district level. This follows the discussion and approval of the proposals of the Local Government Council on establishment of the departments and district assemblies.

Mr Asamoah Boateng said the Council had undertaken several steps to give meaning to the Local Government Law, Act 656, in order to operationalise the Local Government Service.

He said the Council has commenced action that would lead to approval by the Ministry of a Draft Legislation Instrument to transfer functions, staff and resources to the district assemblies.

The Council has also developed the Medium -Term Strategic Plan for the Service for the period 2005 to 2008, provided organizational structure of the Local Government Service, Communication Strategy for the Service.

It is also providing the scheme and conditions of staff of the Service.

He explained that the Ministry has the objective of securing effective administration and management of Local Government and has successfully engaged the process of establishing itself among existing public service organizations in the country.

The Ministry has also secured the Council a temporary institutional accommodation at the Institute of Local Government Studies, at Madina, in Accra and provided technical support, personnel, vehicles and computers since its inauguration in 2004.

Mr Asamoah-Boateng announced that as part of a communications strategy aimed at Chief Directors and Directors, the Council had scheduled a stakeholder consultation forum from November 16-18, 2006, at Sogakope to discuss the "Integration of Line Departments into the Folds of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies."

On the question of how much the Sefwi-Wiawso District Assembly had spent since July 2005 on peace keeping, the Minister said Government was refunding the 1.8 billion cedis spent on peacekeeping by security personnel following the chieftaincy dispute in the district. The amount spent covered July 22, 2005 to March 2006.

Mr Asamoah-Boateng also said the Assembly had spent a further 957,576,748 billion cedis on peace keeping from April 2006 to October 2006, saying this had been forwarded to the Chief of Staff and Minister of Presidential Affairs for a refund.

Asked by Mr Alfred Kwame Agbesi-NDC Ashaiman if the Ministry would recommend to the President to give Ashaiman a district status, Mr Asamoah-Boateng rather answered that there was no plans of upgrading the area into a District status.

He explained that Ashaiman area formed an integral part of the Tema Municipality, for which arrangements were being made to upgrade into a Metropolitan status, and therefore stood to gain more if Tema became a Metropolitan area.

When Mr Robert Sarfo-Mensah- NPP Asunafo North asked what plans Government had to give a facelift to Mim in the Brong Ahafo Region, to an urban status, Mr Asamoah-Boateng said Mim, which was one of the 41 towns to be made urban after the 2000 Population census, was part of a comprehensive Urban Policy Programme, under which towns were to be given facelifts, with assistance from the World Bank.