Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur,has stated there is the need for Regional Ministers and District assemblies to take a look at the possibility of reprioritizing the statutory funds, with the biggest being the common fund because government doesn’t want a situation where the districts are doing various initiatives that don’t relate to the government priorities,
Adding that there’s the need to compliment the efforts of government. Especially monies in the district that are being used for various things that don’t relate to things that government is doing,.
Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur made the statement on Tuesday March 10, when he gave the keynote address to open the 4th Regional Minister’s Conference underway at Elmina in the Central Region. Under the theme” Working together with the 7th District Assemblies For National Development.
He said the money that government is negotiating from the IMF is good because it assures investors who invest in our economy that there would be stability in the economy so that they would make some money.
He said the fund programme requires a lot of discipline; discipline to manage the resources you have and discipline to look forward to better things”. The 940-million dollar package to be given to Ghana by the International Monetary Fund is not enough but would help in the economy, adding that the programme will bring Ghana some advantages.
Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur went on to state that now our infrastructure requirements are in the region of about five billion dollars a year, so infrastructure alone is overwhelmingly bigger than the resources that we are receiving from the IMF”.
He took the opportunity to touch on the district assembly elections that has been suspended, saying that means Government would have to make extra funds available for the EC to restart the process because, so far Ghc310 million has gone waste on an election that was cancelled on February 26, before March 3, which was the scheduled date for the poll.
Mr Amissah Arthur called on the regional ministers to use the country’s scanty resources judiciously when he made mention of the EC’s expenditure which is clearly a waste of national resources.
He said the conference provides the opportunity for the regional ministers to get to know the rest of the country to see in other regions, so that they also know where else in this country that they can get a good welcome
Mr Kwesi Amissah Arthur told them that the conference also gives the opportunity for cabinet ministers to brief their colleagues regional ministers on the situation in their development policies that have been made in cabinet and hoped that they take the opportunity to brief themselves fully of national development .Adding that it also gives them the opportunity to review the program projects development policies as they review the security situation in their regions and how they affect other regions and generally to evaluate their performance in the work that they assigned to do by the president .
Vice president Kwesi Amissah, Arthur said the theme for the conference is working together for the seven district assemblies for national development and that the theme itself has been captured in the development in the country.
He further stated that it signifies that we need to be cohesive unified in the management of this country and other district assemblies and regional ministers who supervises the district assemblies.
Mr. Amissah Arthur said it’s important for them to remember that there’s a chapter in our constitution that is called the direct principles of state policy. Something that is supposed to guide them and to be their bible in the way and manner they manage the affairs of the district assemblies in their various regions that they are responsible and also to promote the integration of the country, So that there would be no prejudice and discrimination in the way which we manage the affairs of the regions.
Touching on the current issues involving the consistent removal of Regional ministers, like the one in the Ashanti region, he called on them to do an assessment and see what the problems have been, so that they would correct it, but was quick to advise the regional ministers to find a harmonious way of working with their deputies by giving them responsibilities and work in harmony.
The Vice President Kwesi Amissah Arthur also took the opportunity to visit the central region house of chiefs to interact with then and know their concerns and deliberate with them on other issues affection the region, He was accompanied by the Chief of Staff Mr. Julius Debrah.
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