Deputy Minister blames assemblies

Navrongo (U/E), Nov 6, GNA- Capt Nkrabea Effah-Darteh (RTD), a Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, has told metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to accept blame for the slow pace of development in their communities.

He said most of them have become complacent to be innovative and efficient by way of mobilizing revenue to supplement the Common Fund. Capt Effah-Darteh said this on Wednesday when he interacted with heads of departments, assembly members and officials of the Kassena-Nankana District Assembly.

He said it is high time the assemblies adopted innovative means of expanding their local revenue base to speed up development, adding, "Unless this is done we shall be far away from self-reliance".

The Deputy Minister called on Ghanaians to be proud and work together irrespective of party leanings to improve the communities. Capt Effah-Darteh urged local level authorities to involve the people in decision-making so as to broaden the base of the decentralization process.

He acknowledged the need to revise the boundaries of some electoral areas because of population growth since they were demarcated about 15 years ago.

He said the Electoral Commission (EC) has been mandated to re-demarcate some electoral areas preferably before the next general elections.