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The Upper West Regional Minister Hon Charles Lwanga Puozuing Esq has on Friday 2nd May, 2025 urged 9 newly sworn-in Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to live among their people, understand their challenges firsthand, and be accessible. The minister cautioned the MMDCEs against partisanship and patronage, by placing emphasis on fairness, justice, and inclusivity in their leadership.
You are inheriting Assemblies facing significant challenges: low citizen participation, inadequate internally generated funds, weak institutional coordination, and a concerning decline in the quality of public service delivery.
“Your position is not a ceremonial title. It is a full-time, round-the-clock commitment to service. So, let me make it clear to you that every MMDCE has been provided with official residential accommodation within your MMDA. It is not acceptable and will not be tolerated for any MMDCE to reside outside your district and commute daily to your office, the minister warned’’
Hon Charles Lwanga Puozuing has highlighted some challenges facing the District Assemblies, including low citizen participation, inadequate internally generated funds, and weak institutional coordination thereby urging the MMDCEs to be guided by law, strategy, and principle, and to internalize the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936).
‘’Let me remind you that the District Assembly system is the fulcrum around which decentralization and local governance revolve he added”
“The Assembly is not yours to control; it is a public institution guided by law, you are to preside over the Executive Committee and lead in the coordination of development efforts, mobilizing human, financial, and material resources to realize the development goals of your respective Assemblies.
“As enshrined in Article 243(1) of the 1992 Constitution and reaffirmed in Section 20 of Act 936, you are the representatives of the President in your respective districts. You bear both political and administrative authority, and the performance of your functions must always reflect fidelity to the national interest, the development priorities of your Assemblies, and the aspirations of the ordinary Ghanaian whose voice and vote give meaning to our democracy he stated “
The Regional Minister has reminded the MMDCEs that, democracy is a journey, and the destination is development that touches every home, every child, and every future. He urged them to rise to the occasion, be bold, wise, fair, and transformational, and to work tirelessly to deliver dividends of democracy to their people.
He encouraged them to build trust, integrity, and unity in their districts, and to work with the departments of the Assembly and opinion leaders to achieve their development goals.
Meanwhile the president of the upper regional house of Chiefs Naa Puowele Karbo III, who doubles as the paramount chief the Lawra Traditional Ara has amplified the profound statement made by the Regional Minister and admonished the MMDCES to keep copies of the minister’s as reference.
“The regional minister has already outline a lot and I would suggest to the chief director that, if could possible the Regional Minister’s speech could be given copies and distributed to the MMDCEs for their studies, I think it touches the core areas of their responsibilities’’
Naa Puowele congratulated the MMDCEs and urged them to collaborate effectively with major key stakeholders especially the traditional areas to deliver the needed development to their people.
Story by: Citizens Journalist Albert Jortee
