Senior Management and Project Leads at the Ministry of Local Government, Decnetralisation and Rural Development (MLGDRD), has met for a four-day retreat in Accra, 10^th January 2023 to take stock of work done and issues that would be rolled over into 2023 and leverage on the Ministry’s programmes and activities for the annual year.

Opening the programme, the Chief Director of the Ministry, Ms. Marian W. A. Kpakpah in her welcome address said the retreat was to ensure good teamwork across directorates and support for each other to work efficiently and effectively.

She was hopeful that the retreat would become an annual affair.

Discussions from the retreat are expected to come up with teams that would be responsible for the Ministry’s activities for the year.

Ms. Kpakpah used the occasion to formally welcome the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA) and announced that “last year, LUSPA was aligned with the Ministry and “I look forward to having a fruitful working collaboration” she emphasised.

A Deputy Minister of the Ministry, Hon. Osei Bonsu Amoah described the retreat as a priority intervention for the year.

This he said entails what has been done, what should be done, and costing of programmes to help achieve all policy directions, considerations, and interventions.

The Hon.  Minister for MLGDRD, Mr. Daniel Botwe in his brief remarks stressed on the need for directorates and for that matter staff of the Ministry to work collaboratively to ensure efficient and sustainable implementation of all activities and programmes that allow for the realisation of the mandate of the Ministry.

This he said will push the country forward in its quest to achieve sustainable development and the realization of the aspirations of the people down to the local levels.

Source:             Public Relations Unit (MLGDRD)

A total number of 542 staff of the Births and Deaths Registry (BDR) at the Metropolitan, ­­Municipal, and District Assemblies, have been officially ceded off from the Civil Service to the Local Government Service (LGS).

The move is to deepen the decentralisation of the operations of the Registry in order to bring services to the doorstep of every Ghanaian as well as ensure the registration of birth and death in an efficient and effective manner.

Speaking at the official ceding-off ceremony in Accra, a Deputy Minister for the Ministry Local Government, Decentralisation, and Rural Development (MLGDRD), Hon. Osei Bonsu Amoah said the government would ensure that the living conditions of the citizenry are improved by formulating appropriate policies and implementations at the local level through the work of the registry by the statistics they churn out.

He stated that the ceding-off was in accordance with the New Births and Deaths Act, 2020 (Act 1027), which will see to the nationwide promotion of registration and to improve the collection and collation of statistics in the country.

Hon. Amoah encouraged staff to work hard to realise the vision of the government and strengthen inter-sectoral collaboration to ensure the smooth implementation of regulations and programmes to satisfy the aspirations of the people.

The Head of Civil Service, Nana Kwasi Agyekum Dwamena indicated that the exercise was to deepen the democratic dispensation and bring services closer to the people while responding quickly to the citizenry down to the local level.

He assured the Office of the Head of Civil Service of his continued support to the Local Government Service to successfully go through the transition.

Dr. Nana Ato Arthur, Head of the Local Government Service, stressed the importance of taking the newly transferred staff through an orientation to enable them to understand and appreciate the local governance and decentralisation system.

The Registrar of Births and Deaths, Madam Henrietta Lamptey, , was optimistic that the transfer presented another opportunity to further decentralise the services of the Registry to deliver timely on its mandate.

SOURCE:             PUBLIC RELATIONS UNIT (MLGDRD)

The Government of Ghana has received funding in the amount of Nine million US dollars from USAID to be used for the implementation of the Resilience In Northern Ghana II (RING II) activities in all the RING II implementing Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies in four northern regions.

 This was revealed by a Deputy Minister for Local Government, Decentralisation, and Rural Development, Hon. Collins Augustine Ntim in a keynote address at the launch of the new $35 million RING II partnership, in the Nadowli Kaleo district in the Upper West Region

The five years partnership is expected to strengthen government systems to improve service delivery in health, nutrition, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), agriculture, and social protection.

The RING II partnership was co-created by USAID, the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, the Ministry of Finance and National Development Planning Commission, along with representatives from Upper East, Upper West, Northern, and North East Regional Coordinating Councils and 17 District Assemblies implementing RING II.

“To show the commitment of USAID to implementation of this project, I am glad to inform all present that, the Government of Ghana has so far received an amount of three million Three hundred and fifty-one thousand, eight hundred and twenty Ghana Cedis, thirty-six pesewas (GHS3, 351,820.36) from USAID for the implementation of September, October and November RING II activities”, he added.

Hon. Ntim has urged all beneficiary MMDAs to place importance on the implementation of the project and ensure effective and efficient use of the allocated funds to benefit poor households and improve the nutrition levels within the implementing Districts of the Project.

The acting Mission Director, Paul Pleva on his part said the RING partnership will afford the Government of Ghana and USAID a unique opportunity to improve the nutrition and resilience of vulnerable communities in Northern Ghana.

Upper West Regional Minister, Dr. Hafiz Bin Salih in his welcome address stated that the four northern regions are elated about the project as nutrition and resilience issues pose major challenges in making life better for the people.

The first phase of the RING project which was implemented between 2014 -2019 was an initiative of the United State Agency for International Development (USAID) and Feed the Future (FTF) project to support the efforts of the Government of Ghana to improve the livelihoods and nutritional status of the vulnerable and to enhance their socio-economic wellbeing.  The project was implemented and coordinated through the Northern Regional Coordinating Council (NRCC).

The objective of the Project was to improve the livelihoods and nutritional status of vulnerable households in targeted communities in 17 selected Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Northern Region of Ghana.

The key areas the project interventions were expected to improve include nutrition, governance, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), agriculture, and livelihoods.

The MMDAs of RING I beneficiaries were Central Gonja, East Gonja, East Mamprusi, Gushegu, Karaga, Kpandai, Kumbungu, Nanumba North, Nanumba South, Saboba, Saganerigu, Savelugu, Tamale, Tolon, West Gonja, and Chereponi.

Source:            PUBLIC RELATIONS UNIT (MLGDRD)