Chief Executives assume office.........But what should the people expect from them?(D/G. Monday, May 18, 2009. Page 36)

Chief Executives assume office.........But what should the people expect from them?
Article: Benjamin Xornam Glover
The period from April 24, 2009 to May 6, 2009 saw the confirmation ofthe entire president’s nominee for the position of Municipal andDistrict Chief Executives (M/DCEs) in the Upper East Region.There are nine districts in the Region. Seven of the appointees hadtheir confirmation process endorsed “one touch” as said in localparlance while the remaining two had to go for a re-run to have theircandidature approved. They both failed to get the nod after the firstround of voting by their respective assembly membersThe nominee who had their appointment confirmed at the first shot wasMrs. Vivian Anafo for Talensi/Nabdam, Mr. Norbert Awulley for BuilsaDistrict, and Mr. Epsona H. Ayamga for the Bolgatanga Municipality.The rest are Mr. David Adakudugu for the Garu-Tempane District, Mr.Thomas Adda Dalu for the Kassena-Nankana West District, Mr. MusahAbdulai for the Bawku Municipality and Mr. Emmanuel Andema for theKassena-Nankana district.Messrs Moro Adam Anaba and Clement Akugri Tia, the nominees for theBawku West and Bongo Districts respectively were initially rejected bytheir assemblies but were later confirmed at a later sitting of theirrespective assemblies within the stipulated 10 days interval providedby the Electoral Commission.With the approval of the Municipal and District Chief Executives, theRegional Coordinating Council under the leadership of the RegionalMinister, Mr. Mark Woyongo now has the full complements of hislieutenants to implement the development agenda of the government andbring total development to the various districts.Come September, next year, the Upper East Region will mark its GoldenJubilee Celebration, however at 49 years since its creation, theregion is faced with a number of developmental challenges, key amongthem is the high poverty rate.The region has great potential in large scale rice production,especially in the Oncho Free-Zone area around Fumbisi in the BuilsaDistrict, Cash Crop production which is made possible due to the manysmall-scale irrigation sites such as the Cotton Ginnery and theNorthern Star Tomato Factory in the Talensi/Nabdam district.One can also talk of the crafts industry including the smock business,the leather and straw trade, the mining and quarry activities as wellas the rich tourist attraction sites such as the Paga Crocodile Pond,the Tongo Rock and Tenzuk Shrine, the Navrongo Minor Basilica amongstother attractions.In spite of the great potentials that exist in the region, it is stillviewed as one of the most deprived area where its people live inmisery because leadership have not been able to exploit or showcasethe rich potentials to the outside world.Poor sanitation, environmental degradation, especially indiscriminatelittering of refuse, the unending conflict in Bawku and in otherhotspots in the region has connived to give the region a bad name.These confirmed M/DCE now in office in the two municipalities andseven districts should therefore consider it a privilege to work hardand contribute positively to enhance the living conditions and turnaround the fortunes of their people.Here are some of the few developmental challenges I think the variouspolitical heads now in office must address now that they have beenconfirmed and sworn into office.For instance, in the year 2004, the Bolgatanga Municipality wasadjudged the cleanest municipality in Ghana and was given the"Cleanest City Award".A few years down the line, the municipality has lost its shine andBolgatanga is facing poor sanitation problems. Apart from theindiscriminate littering, the lack of toilet facilities in the varioushomes has forced some of the people to defecate in the open.Mr. Epsona H. Ayamga and his team of administrators at the BolgatangaMunicipal Assembly would have to stretch every sinew of the muscle toaddress the sanitation problem facing the municipality.He must also explore every opportunity to ensure that therehabilitated Bolgatanga Central Market, which for the past eight ormore years have been left unoccupied is brought back to life toimprove on the local economy of the area.Next is the Bawku Municipality which has for the past two years beenbedeviled with incessant conflicts that have retarded the developmentof the area.Mr. Musa Abdulai, with his background as a development worker, has thearduous task as a MCE to the once populous trading town to rekindlethe spirit of togetherness, peace and unity among the people andensure that permanent peace is achieved in Bawku.The Municipality is also famous for onion production and vegetablesand one can only watch keenly how the law and sociology graduate fromthe Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology work to boostthe agriculture potentials of Bawku.Mr. Emmanuel Andema, DCE for Kassena-Nankana East will have toredouble his efforts to ensure that agriculture which is the mainstayof the local economy and accounts for about 68 per cent of theemployable population is given a boost.It is an established fact that a substantial number of the peoplebecome underemployed during the agricultural off-season, resulting insome of them migrating out of the district thus minimizing labouravailability for communal work during the period of emigration.Next door is the Kassena-Nankana West District headed by Mr. ThomasAdda Dalu. The district though newly created is much endowed. Thedistrict boasts of such wonderful tourist sites such as the PagaCrocodile pond where human can easily interact with reptiles.Sad to say, this facility has not been well developed to match thefame that is associated with the area. This facility when welldeveloped could rake in more revenue for the assembly and improve thelocal economy of the area.Others sectors of the economy in the district such as agriculture,education, health to mention a few will also require substantialattention to uplift the lives of the people.Builsa District under the leadership of Mr. Norbert Awulley, will haveto work closely with the Ministry of Agriculture to support farmerswith water pumps, seeds, fertilizers and other inputs to boost foodproduction especially in the oncho free zone.The district is also prone to natural disasters such as floods andwindstorms and he must therefore work hard to put in place mechanismsthat will ameliorate the plight of the people.Mr. Clement Akugri Tia, DCE of Bongo will have to ensure that by theend of his term, his district gets at least a kilometer of tarredroad. Bongo is the only district in the Upper East Region where thereisn’t a single tarred road not even in the district capital and thepeople have over the past years made several appeals to the governmentto if for nothing at all ensure that the road leading to the town fromBolgatanga is tarred to reduce the drudgery of travelling on it.Similarly, other districts namely Talensi/Nabdam, Bawku West, andGaru-Tempane are faced with major developmental challenges and therespective DCEs, Mrs. Vivian Anafo, Moro Adam Ayana and DavidAdakudugu have the envious task to work hard to justify the confidencereposed in them.Generally, it is a well known fact that poverty is the number oneenemy of the region and those elected into office must endeavor tofeature elements of poverty alleviation mechanisms and bring aboutaccelerated development. -End-