The second ordinary session of
the Tano South District Assembly has been held at Bechem the District capital.
Hon.
Dr. Hannah Bissiw and the Queenmother of Bechem at the meeting
In his welcome address, the
Presiding Member of the assembly Hon. Anthony Opoku expressed his profound gratitude
to the members for their massive turnout and told them that General Assembly
meeting is an important component of the decentralization process which has
practical application and relevance to local governance and for that matter the
development of the District.
The Presiding Member stressed the
need that whereas staff of the central administration at the local government
level performs executive functions, assembly members must also ensure that
these executive functions are carried out with the high sense of urgency within
the ambit of prescribed regulations.
The
Presiding Member Hon. Anthony Opoku addressing Assembly Members
He said as Hon. Assembly members
their oversight responsibility involves
monitoring the activities of the executive to ensure such activities are
curried out legally, effectively, efficiently and in accordance to legislative
intent which includes demanding accountability, value for money and most
importantly adherence to laid down procedure among others which means as
Assembly Members they need to be inquisitorial and probe minded and be reminded
that they shall be judged by the same people who have mandated them to take care of their welfare and
development.
The Presiding Member drew the
attention of the house that the elected member for Atekyem electoral area Hon.
Comfort Pokua Enninful has absented herself for more than three
consecutive ordinary meetings which contravenes the Local Government act(Act 462) of 1993 and
urged honourable members to take note and allow the rules to be applied.
Hon. Opoku announced to the house
of the stealing of the motor bike belonging to Hon. Abu Dauda the Assembly
member for Kubease electoral area in Derma. He said this brings to two the
number of motorbikes stolen from Assembly members. He reminded members to wear
helmets when riding their motorbikes, as role models, he said they are to lead
by example. He said there are also reports of stray animals, a situation which
is worrying and called on all to do their best to combat the problem in their
respective area.
Hon. Anthony Opoku on behalf of
the house used the occasion to congratulate Hon. Member of Parliament and
Deputy Minister of Agric Hon. Dr. Hannah Louissa Bissiw for winning the 2012
Parliamentary seat for the constituency
and also expressed on behalf of the house their profound gratitude to
the District Chief Executive, District Coordinating Director, and all heads of department for their continuous support to honourable members
on the discharge of their duties and called on each and everyone at the meeting to feel free
and contribute constructively on issues raised on the floor of the house.
The Tano South District Chief
Executive Hon. Bukari Zakari Anaba in his address warmly welcomed all Hon.
Members, Nananom, and Heads of Department gathered at the 3rd ordinary meeting of the 2nd
session of the house. He expressed his profound gratitude to Hon. Members,
Nananom, Heads of Department, staff and many others for the various roles they
played during his confirmation as District Chief Executive for the second term in office and solicited their maximum
support and cooperation so that together
they can bring about the much needed development in our area. He said we should
remember that it is through unity and oneness that we can move the district
forward and called on all to eschew partisan considerations on the floor of the
house and discuss all matters in an open, frank, transparent and pragmatic
manner so that they take decisions that will go a long way to improve the lot
of our dear people.
Hon.
DCE delivering his speech to the house
Touching on the street naming and property
addressing system, said a team has been set up to ensure that the exercise is
completed on schedule. He said the exercise is not restricted to Bechem
Township instead it covers the entire District and for that matter all communities
in the District require the cooperation of Nananom, Assemblymembers, opinion
leaders and everybody to ensure its success.
On illegal developments, the
District Chief Executive said he has observed with dismay the number of unauthorized structures sprigging up in our
communities in the full glare of Nananom and Assemblymembers and retaliated that it is our collective
responsibility to control illegal developments in our communities.
Touching on revenue generation,
the DCE said the assembly depends largely on revenue to embark on meaningful
development projects in the district and revenue generation from internal
sources is therefore a major responsibility of the assembly as we cannot over
rely on transfers from the central government and other sources but said unfortunately
the assembly is facing some challenges in its internal revenue generation. This
unfortunate situation he said has a serious effect on our performance and
service delivery.
On Education, the District Chief
Executive said true to the Presidents campaign promise during the 2012 electioneering campaign period in establishing
two hundred (200) senior high schools in the country, the Tano South District
has been privileged to have been selected among the first (1st) 50
school to be built of which Derma Senior high school has been selected in the
District. He said the chief and people
of Derma have already allocated a vast track of land for the project.
Hon. Bukari Zakari Anaba said in
a bid to promote education in the district, the Assembly in its wisdom decided
to provide financial assistance to the needy but brilliant students in the
District. He said the scheme has been operational over the past few years and a
number of challenges have cropped up which calls for immediate review in order
to streamline the criteria for its implementation.
On the Adekyem Festival of the
Bcehem Traditional Council, the Distinct Chief Executive said the second
edition of the festival is slated for the 30th November 2013 and as
such it would serve as a home coming of many of our people who are resident in
other parts of the country and abroad and said people from all walks of life
will come to the district during the festival period to witness the rich
culture of our people. He said it is important to note that a number of
dignitaries and high ranking government officials including His Excellency John
Dramani Mahama have been invited to the grand durbar and called on honorable
members to organize their communities
to keep their environment most especially Bechem and the surrounding
communities clean.
On sports, the DCE told the house
that with the bouncing back of Bechem United into the premier league of which the mini stadium
at the Bechem is their home ground efforts should be made for the Assembly to
benefit from the gate proceeds of matched played at Bechem since though the stadium is not completed the
Assembly has invested heavily in its construction and proposed that a committee is set up to
take up this matter with Nananom, management of the Bechem United FC, the
Regional Secretariat of the National Sport Council and the Presbyterian church
– Bechem.
Hon. Anaba said since Traditional
Council has adopted the club as its baby, the club has therefore become the
spirit and embodiment of the district and as a good way of promoting the good
course of the football club, Nananom have requested for financial support from
the Assembly to procure a bus for the club.
On the farmers day celebration ,
the DCE informed the house the Friday, 6th December 2013 is farmers
day and as such a committee has been set up the plan for the celebration and
also informed the house that the security situation in the district has been
relatively peaceful but stressed that
Christmas is just at the corner and
entreated all and sundry to be security alert and report all suspicious
characters they find in their
communities to the security agencies and finally wished the house a fruitful
deliberations.
The Member of Parliament and
Deputy Minister of Agriculture Dr. Hannah Louissa Bissiw in a short speech
thanked the house for their support during and after the 2012 election which won her the parliamentary seat of the Tano South
Constituency.
The Member of Parliament and Deputy
Minister of Agriculture Dr. Hannah Louissa Bissiw addressing Hon. Assembly
members
She said, with the elections over,
it is about development for the area but not partisanship since she represents
the interest of all the people of the constituency in parliament but not one
interest group.
She said, she would wish a
central development committee is initiated in the district and called for the cooperation
of the all assemblymembers. Hon. Dr. Bissiw reminded the assemblymembers that
it is not the title alone that has brought them here or vote to confirm a DCE
but to initiate programmes and policies that will bring development to the
people and look out for priority projects needed for their communities.
The minister assured that she
would do all that it takes to ensure that the Bechem Tachmantia road is tarred but warned that
the ministry of Agric would be embarking
on a tour in some parts of the country to ensure that certain measures are put
in place and warned that the much talked about
Bechem slaughter house be put in good shape to avoid the wrath of
veterinary officials from the ministry should they visit the place in a visit
to the District.
Present at the Assembly meeting
were the Krontihene of Techimantia Nana
Ampong Kromantang and the
Queen Mother of Bechem Nana Adwoa- Po
Dwamena.
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