President Nana Akufo-Addo has charged newly appointed Chief Executive Officers for the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to build and manage their own capacities to realise the fruits of decentralisation as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution.
According to him, this would finally end the overreliance of citizens on action and support from the Central government.
President Akufo-Addo, speaking at the orientation ceremony for newly appointed MMDCEs in Accra, stated that for them to be self-reliant, they would have to work hard to increase Internally Generated Funds (IGF) to support their own initiatives.
“You’d not make the progress you should if all your development programmes are solely dependent on the modest sums you get from the common fund allocation,” he said.
He called on the MMDCEs to transform the local economies they would preside over and implement programmes for growth and development.
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According to him, development projects instituted by his government have been targeted to the local economies of MMDCEs across the country; thus, it should be relatively easy to ensure job creation, growth and development.
“The local area is the target for all the programmes we set forth in 2017, programmes we continue to implement for the growth and transformation of the Ghanaian economy,” he said.
“Planting for Food and Jobs, $1 million One Constituency, One District One Factory, One Village One Dam and Agenda 111 policy initiatives like all the other innovative introductions to the economy are all very much local initiatives,” he added.
Meanwhile, the President sounded a word of caution to the MMDCEs to be fully invested in their localities in order not to be found wanting concerning development issues in their area.
“I’ll sound a note of caution here; all government initiatives at the local level come within your purview whether you initiated them or not. So the argument that you’re not aware of or are not responsible for government initiatives in your localities will not wash with me.
“You have to familiarize yourself with everything whether of your making or not. A chief executive who is indifferent or unaware of government activities in their area is not a suitable chief executive,” he said.