A zonal sensitisation workshop for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Central, Greater Accra, and Western Regions has been held.

The assemblies were represented by Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), Coordinating Directors, and other staff.

The workshop is in preparation towards the DPAT VI assessment which forms part of the processes towards the conduct of the assessment.

Prior to the exercise, MMDAs needed to be sensitised on the indicators that they would be assessed on for the 2021 financial year for adequate preparation for the upcoming assessment.

Speaking at the workshop, the Hon. Minister for Local Government Decentralisation, and Rural Development, Daniel Botwe urged MMDAs to be accountable to community development by being compliant to the DPAT VI indicators.

He stressed on the need for MMDAs to use their statutory mandate for public good and proactively pursue participatory and inter-sectoral collaborations to development and nation building.

DPAT is a tool developed to assess assemblies on their performance. The indicators covered under the assessment tool is to ensure that MMDAs are executing their mandate legally and also ensure that they are complying with the regulatory and policy framework as enshrined in different legal instruments that provide the mandate Assemblies work with.

  Source: MLGDRD Public Relations Unit

The Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development (MMGDRD) has participated in the just-ended Civil Service Week Celebration.

The Ministry participated in the Football match, clean-up exercise, public lectures, exhibitions and open day, and the awards ceremony.

At the exhibition, the Ministry exhibited its Acts, policies, programmes, projects, and other educational materials.

The Ministry also featured its allied Agencies and Departments to also showcase what they do.

The Departments that were present were the Births and Deaths Registry, Parks and Gardens, Community Development, and its allied Agency - Institute of Local Government Studies.

All the Departments exhibited wares, products, and Services to the general public for their patronage

Source: MLGDRD Public Relations Unit

Hon. Daniel Botwe, Minister for Local Government, Decentralisation, and Rural Development has charged Metropolitan/ Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to live up to their statutory responsibilities within the Local Government Act 2016 (Act 936) and the Land Use and Spatial Planning Act 2016 (Act 925) to help build sustainable and resilient cities within the country.

The Minister was speaking to MMDCEs and Metropolitan/ Municipal and District Coordinating Directors, Heads of Physical and Works Departments of all twenty-nine (29) Assemblies in the Greater Accra Region at a meeting held to discuss spatial planning activities within the Region.

The meeting provided the platform to discuss the bottlenecks in the spatial planning and permitting roles and procedures within the Region with the aim of proposing workable solutions on the way forward.

According to the Minister, this has become necessary due to the perennial flooding and its related matters that hit Accra recently and other places across the country which Cabinet directed that urgent and immediate actions be taken to address the situation nationwide, starting with the Greater Accra.

This, the Minister said is as a result of the challenge of the poor state of urban land-use planning and management; posing as a major contributing factor to the perennial flooding, with reference to the rapid growth of population and increasing urbanization which has placed huge demands on local authorities with respect to the provision of housing, sanitation and other related services.

He urged MMDCEs to ensure adherence to their statutory mandate reflected in the various legislations governing spatial planning and land use to help provide adequate spatial direction for physical development within the various assemblies which forms the fulcrum for development control.

Source: MLGDRD Public Relations Unit