Caption:

Hon Collins Ntim, Deputy Minister for Local Government with Chief Akwannuasah Gyimah, MCE for Asokwa and assembly members of the Asokwa Municipal Assembly

Story:

AUGUSTINE COLLINS Ntim, a Deputy Local Government Minister, has seperately toured the Kumasi Metropolitan and the Asokwa Municipal Assemblies to familiarize himself with their work on Monday.

Accompanied by some officers from the Ministry, he expressed his delight at the manner in which the two assemblies had set out to implement government programs and policies through the decentralized system under the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development (MLGRD).

He encouraged both Assemblies to make use of District Implementation Committees whose duty is to ensure all government flagship programs and policies were implemented to the latter.

Some of these programs, particularly those under the Education, Health and Agric Directorates, the Deputy Minister mentioned, were aimed at having a holistic impact on the people of the country and thereby ensure total development.

Sitting through a presentation by the three mentioned departments under the two assemblies, the Minister noted with happiness the performances of KMA and Asokwa and asked that they work to sustain the gains in the fields they fared well and make amends at places they scored low marks so that they could push the development agenda of the government forward.

K’si Mayor:

Samuel Pyne, Mayor for Kumasi, summing up his thoughts about the visit by the deputy minister, noted that the KMA was committed to working to improve the lot of the people in its jurisdiction.

PIX: Hon Collins Ntim with Mayor of Kumasi, Hon Sam Pyne and some Assembly members of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly as well as representative of the Adumhene

He also pledged the Assembly’s resolve to work on areas that they did not fare well as well as work to sustain the gains it made in some of the areas identified in the Agric, Education and Health directorates.

The Mayor however asked for special consideration for the KMA when distributions are being made in the form of the district assemblies common fund (DACF) as well as other supplies since the KMA comprises 5 constituencies in the Ashanti Region.

Asokwa:

On his part, MCE for Asokwa, Chief Akwannuasah Gyimah thanked the Deputy Minister for taking time to visit the Asokwa Municipal Assembly which was carved out in 2018.

He noted that the Assembly since its establishment has led in the development of every sector of the local economy while maximizing in areas such as agriculture where it is known for cultivating the largest vegetables in the region.

Asokwa MP:

PIX: The Deputy Minister with Asokwa MP, Madam Patricia Appiagyei and Elliot Fosu Barnor, PM for Asokwa

Madam Patricia Appiagyei, Member of Parliament for Asokwa said she was happy the Deputy Minister was someone who had worked through the ranks of the local government system.

This, she noted puts him in a good stead to appreciate the challenges the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) were facing but posited that the carving out of Asokwa to attain Municipal status has led to transformation in the communities under same and prayed the gains would be maintained by the Assembly so as to become the beacon of modernized community.

By Michael Ofosu-Afriyie 

Kumasi