DEPUTY MINISTER FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT, DECENTRALIZATION AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT PAYS WORKING VISIT TO BONO REGION

The Deputy Minister for Local Government Decentralisation and Rural Development, Hon. Augustine Collins Ntim has paid a working visit to the Bono Region.

The Minister visited Districts like Wenchi and Sunyani West Municipals.

The purpose of the visit was to monitor and assess government flagship programmes and projects being undertaken in the Municipality. The visit was to evaluate the progress and impact of these flagship programmes and policies on the lives of the people. It was also to consolidate the gains made to help in policy formulation and targeting.

Wenchi Visit

In his Welcome Address, the Municipal Chief Executive for Wenchi Municipal, Alexander Obour Damoah presented comprehensive reports on the status of the government flagship programmes and projects in the Municipality and achievements made in various Sectors particularly Agriculture, Education, Health, amongst others.
Addressing Chiefs, Heads and Staff of Department of the Assembly, External Organisations, Development Partners and other Stakeholders, A.C Ntim also the Member of Parliament for Offinso North stressed that the rationale for government’s intervention policy initiatives was to improve the life of the people. He said the monitoring tour was to help government in policy formulation and implementation to serve the intended objectives.
Presentations were made on Agriculture, Health and Education Sectors by the Sector Heads and Representatives highlighting the gains made. The Municipal Director for Agriculture Emmanuel Kwabena Afful made the presentation on his sector. Modernisation of Agriculture (MAG), Planting for Food & Jobs (PFJ), Planting for Export & Rural Development (PERD), Ghana Productive Safety Net Project (GPSNP) Phase I & II, Women in Agriculture, were some of the Agricultural programmes implemented in the Municipality. Some key achievements in the Agric Sector include; established Cassava and Livestock Innovation Platform for improved market linkage, acquired tractor and accessories for Branam FarmerBased Organisations, trained and supported over 10,000 cashew farmers, linked maize federation groups to marketers such as Yerdent and Agrocenta, trained and created employment for women under Soyabean utilisation programme, reclaimed 50 hectares of degradable lands for cashew plantation, amongst others.
The Disease Control Officer George Agyemang made presentation on behalf of the Health Directorate. The Municipality has 3 Hospitals, 6 Health Centres, 9 Community Based Health Planning Services (CHPS) compounds and 1 Government Maternity Home.
On Education, 20 pregnant and nursing mothers were brought back to school. 71 Basic School Heads were supplied with Laptops and Modems. Some educational institutions have been installed with Wi-Fi network and internet. Ten (10) Girls were awarded with Laptops under Girls in ICT Project. 89 .9% Pass Rate was recorded in the 2021 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), amongst many achievements, the PRO David Baffoe for the Education Directorate.
The Deputy Minister was impressed about the progress and gains made. He assured government’s commitment to impact the lives of the people.

Sunyani West Visit

The Deputy Minister for Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development, Hon. Augustine Collins Ntim, On Wednesday, 26th October 2022 paid a working visit to the Sunyani West Municipal Assembly as part of his tour in the Bono region. The visit according to the Minister who also doubles as the Member of Parliament for the Offinso North Constituency was to familiarize himself with how the various programmes and policies rolled out by the government has been implemented by the Sunyani West Assembly for the benefit of the citizenry. He mentioned that since the MMDAs are drivers of these flagship programmes and policies, it was important for the sector Minister Hon. Dan Botwe and his deputies to tour to tour the various MMDAs to be up to speed with the programmes implemented. He said programmes such as the Planting for Food and Jobs, (PFJ) One District One Factory, (IDIF), Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD), The Digitization Agenda, Free Senior High School and other policies and programmes have been deliberately implemented to ensure equitable allocation of resources. The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Hon. Evans Kusi Boadum, commended the Minister For the visit. He said the Assembly is doing its best to help bring development in the Municipality and all government policies and programmes are being implemented for the benefit of the citizenry. The MCE outlined bad road network and activities of Fulani herdsmen as major challenges facing the Assembly. Heads of Works Department, Health, Education and Agriculture made power point presentations on their achievements about the government flagship programmes and policies. The Deputy Minister commended the Assembly for work done so far. He added that the new Administrative Block should have been a 2 store -building. As a result, the Ministry will consider getting additional Office Block for the Assembly.