The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of the Abuakwa North Municipal Assembly, Hon. Alhaji Umar Babs Bodinga embarked community tour from the 20th September 2022 to 14th October 2022 across the Municipality as part of his responsibilities to engage the various communities.
In line with their functions as stipulated in Section (16) of the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936), Assembly Members in the various electoral areas organized the session to aid the Municipal Chief Executive and his Team to interact with residents.
The MCE visited all the sixteen electoral areas under the Municipality which includes Ahenbronom-Kukurantumi, Apotosu-Kukurantumi, Sokode-Juaso, Ahenbronom- OldTafo, Abaase-Old Tafo, Dar-el-Salam-New Tafo, Mangoase-New Tafo, CRIG, Ati-Ahenbronom, Ati-Amanfrom, Nobi-Bayera, Anyinasin, Ettukrom, Ahenbronom-Osiem, and Afigya
The purpose of the Community engagement was to interact and address public concerns with regards to development and governance issues. The visit also served as an opportunity for Hon. Alhaji Umar Babs Bodinga to be introduced as the MCE and Political representative of the Central Government. The MCE was accompanied by the Municipal Coordinating Director, Mr. John Ankrah and heads of the various departments.
Hon. Municipal Chief Executive in his opening remarks mentioned that the engagement programmes part of deepening the decentralization process by enhancing grassroots participation and involvement in the decision-making process as established in the Local Governance Act 2016, Act 936. He also urged the electorates to channel their grievances through the Assembly Members when the need arises.
The Heads of the various Departments within the Assembly took turns to sensitize the members of the various communities on Education, Health and Sanitation, Agriculture, Road Network, Water, Electricity, Building Permits, Burial Permits, Physical Planning, Development Planning, National Disaster and Social Services issues.
On his part, the Municipal Roads Engineer, Mr. Bernard Adams, assured the electorates that all on-going road projects will be completed and assessment had been done to incorporate other road networks earmarked for construction across the Municipality.
Also the Municipal Works Engineer, Mrs. Diana Afrifa took participants through the acquisition of Building Permits and encouraged the electorates to corporate and comply with the processes to avoid indiscriminate buildings from springing up within the Municipality. She also encouraged all to pay their property rates since it is a source of generating revenue for developments.
On burial issues, the Municipal Coordinating Director, Mr. John Ankrah sensitized the participants on the need to acquire a Burial Permit from the Assembly before burial. He indicated that the processes start’s with acquiring documents; Cause of Death from the Hospital, Death Certificate from Births and Deaths Registry, Burial Permit from the Assembly and Grave Space from the Traditional Authorities. He seized the opportunity and pleaded with the various Traditional Authorities to inspect and ensure families acquire the necessary documentations before allocating the grave space for burial.
The Development Planning Officer, Mr. Royal Antwi informed the electorates about the new Ghana Enterprise Agency’s (GEA) intervention programme on Entrepreneurship training and accessing of loans for business start-ups to aid businesses grow. Mr. Antwi explained that, the programme is the Government’s response to address the looming challenge of youth unemployment in Ghana.
The HIV/AIDS focal person, Mamatta Alhassan Abdullai, also seized the opportunity to educate and create awareness on the rise in cases of the disease. She mentioned the causes, preventive measures and urged all to get tested to know their status and to avoid discriminating against Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV).
OPEN FORUM
Both the MCE and the MCD expressed appreciation to the Traditional Authorities for their immense support and turnout towards a successful engagement. They thanked the Assembly Members and the public for an all-inclusive participation aimed at bringing development to their doorstep.
HON. CHIEF EXECUTIVE ADDRESSING THE STAKEHOLDERS MUNICIPAL COORDINATING DIRECTOR DELIVERING A SPEECH.
SCHOOL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN ASKING A QUESTION .