KASSENA-NANKANA WEST ASSEMBLY HOLDS MEETING (PAGE 26)

THE Kassena-Nankana West District Assembly has formed a monitoring and security task force to ensure the proper distribution of fertiliser coupons to farmers.
The team has also been empowered to deal with individuals who smuggle the fertiliser, which is highly subsided by the government, and indulge in other crime-related activities, including fuel smuggling to neighbouring countries
The task force has also been empowered to sanction those who are caught in the act.
The District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Thomas Addah Dalu, announced this at the second ordinary meeting of the third session of the assembly at Paga.
He said the task force was chaired by the District Police Commander and its membership composed of representatives from the various security agencies in the district.
Mr Dalu said it was unfortunate that while the government was making every effort to subsidise fertiliser for the benefit of farmers, such efforts were being hampered by the behaviour of some unscrupulous agricultural officers and fertiliser dealers.
According to Mr Dalu, apart from the activities of the agricultural officers and the fertiliser dealers, some individuals also engage in smuggling the fertiliser out of the district, which shares border with Burkina Faso.
He said to deal with the issue of malpractice in the distribution of fertiliser coupons, the district assembly had met with the agricultural officers and outlined modalities for the distribution of the coupons to farmers.
Mr Dalu said under the guidelines, the agricultural officers were required to involve assembly members, chiefs and opinion leaders in the distribution of the coupons at the community level.
He noted with concern that while some officers followed the modalities, others still did what they could to thwart the efficient and transparent distribution of coupons.
The DCE, therefore, called for the support of all assembly members to deal with the menace.
He said one other area the assembly was focusing its attention on was child trafficking which was very rampant in the district, especially in the Kandiga area.
Mr Dalu stated that child trafficking was a criminal activity, and therefore appealed to all assembly members to assist in clamping down on the menace.
“We are in the 21st Century so all forms of human rights abuses should be eliminated through commitment and vigilance from all sections of the society,” he said.
The DCE said as part of its medium to long-term development programme in the district, the assembly had outlined the development of mango plantation, a special guinea fowl project, clearing dams of silt and provision of additional boreholes.
He stated that the assembly intended to acquire land banks for future development, adding that such land banks would facilitate the expropriation of land for projects that needed urgent implementation, particularly donor-driven projects.
The Presiding Member of the assembly, Mr Martin Alichimah, called on the assembly members to take special interest in the activities of revenue collectors in the various zones to broaden the internal revenue generation by the assembly.