The West Gonja Municipal Assembly held an inaugural of the 9th assembly and the confirmation of the presiding Member of the assembly. The ceremony was held at the Damongo ultra-modern community center on 12 February 2024.
Present at the inauguration was the Savannah regional minister Hon. Saeed Muhazu Jibril, the West Gonja Municipal Chief Executive Hon. Karim Musah Kusubari, Lawyer Virginia Funga from the office of the athony general, Municipal Electoral Commission officials, Chiefs and other invited guests.
The West Gonja Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Hon. Karim Musah Kusubari in a welcome address said the 8th assembly has ended and it is fortunate to get a new assembly constituted and ready to serve the people of the West Gonja Municipality.
According to the MCE, the period after the elections of the assembly members across the country in December 2023, management of the West Gonja Municipal Assembly has been holding forth to ensure that the assembly continues to deliver its mandate to see to the reconstitution of the assembly which will help champion the development agenda for the people.
Hon. Karim Kusubari made it clear that the General Assembly is non-partisan and has demonstrated in the ended assembly elections in its approach to issues of concern to the Municipality as a whole, therefore, a high sense of unity and maturity was exhibited and it’s important to accept decisions of the house as a collective responsibility, try as much as possible to desist from the temptation of disassociating oneself from some decision of the house in a bit to cheap popularity among the general populace.
He further mentioned peace and security referring to the Damongo chieftains dispute, insufficient internally generated funds, building without permits affecting settlement plans, increasing rate of substance abuse among the youth, trading on the pedestrian walkway in Damongo and Busunu, and indiscriminate waste disposal as some of the challenges that need the urgent attention of the Hon. Assembly Members which need to be prioritized in the subsequent discussions to help shape the development in the Municipality.
The MCE congratulated the Hon. Members of the 9th Assembly and those who were part of the 8th Assembly but not inclusive.
During the inaugural ceremony, the Savannah Regional Minister, Hon. Saeed Muhazu Jibril in a keynote address said in accordance with the 1992 constitution, the government appointed 30 percent of the Assembly Members who together with those elected, as well as the member(s) of Parliament and District Chief Executive constitute the membership of the assembly, therefore, Assembly Members have the mandate to deliberate, plan, mobilize resources, make decisions including by-laws to ensure the transformation of the District towards the development of Ghana.
The Hon. Minister added that the inaugural ceremony marks an important milestone towards deepening decentralization as stipulated in Article 35 Clause 6(d) of the 1992 constitution and the Article encourages the state to promote decentralization and popular participation in governance by affording all possible opportunities to the citizenry to participate in decision making at all levels of government.
The Minister also said the decentralization reforms that started in 1988 with only one hundred and ten (110) Districts Assemblies have made progress on several fronts and that the inauguration of 259 district assemblies out of a total of 261with the exclusion of Nkoranza South Municipal and Nkoranza North District Assemblies whose tenure is yet to end.
Furthermore, the minister said it is a privilege for someone to be elected or appointed to serve residents of his/her locality and therefore entreated the Hon. Assembly members to build good working relationships with their colleagues, the Hon. District Chief Executive, Member(s) of Parliament and Staff of the District Assembly one represents.
He continued by urging assembly members to establish strong partnerships and collaborate with the local structures particularly, the urban, town, zonal, and area councils, the unit committees, and traditional authorities as well as other identifiable groups to facilitate the work of the District Assembly.
The Hon. Minister in addition said the District Assembly is being inaugurated at a time when efforts are made by the Government through the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development (MLGDRD) to improve on the mobilization of the Internally Generated Funds(IGFs) of the MMDAs and the MLGDRD has formulated several sector policies that contribute towards the national agenda which include; National Decentralization Policy and Strategy, National Urban Policy and Action Plan, Local Economic Development Policy and Action Plan, and National Rural Development Policy.
Finally, the Hon. Minister admonished the Hon. Assembly members to exhibit selflessness and devotion to duty as required and expected by their people.
The inauguration of the West Gonja Municipal Assembly merged with the election and confirmation of the Presiding Member. Before the election, the District Election Officer for the West Gonja Municipal, Mr. Essuman Barnes Solomon said the Electoral Commission is mandated to conduct the election of the Presiding Member of which per the modalities people were asked to take nominations forms and file to contest for the presiding Membership position but at the end and close of nominations, it was only Hon. Mumuni Mohammed who filed, therefore, instead of voting between or among interested members, it has reduced the burden to just confirming him by a yes or no vote.
He added that at the end of the yes or no confirmation vote with 18 elected and appointed assembly members, Hon. Mumuni Mohammed got 100 percent confirmation.
Various Sub-committees including social services sub-committee, justice, and security sub-committee, development planning sub-committee, works sub-committee, finance and administration sub-committee, agriculture sub-committee, micro, and small-scale enterprise sub-committee, and environmental sub-committee were formed and chairpersons nominated.
The confirmed Presiding Member of the 9th Assembly of the West Gonja Municipal Assembly, Hon. Mumuni Mohammed in his confirmation remarks expressed heartfelt gratitude for being re-elected as the Presiding Member of the West Gonja Municipal.
According to him, it is an honor to be re-elected and that there is no development that can take place without the assembly and the assembly members are those who will pass the resolutions, plans, and activities of programs for the assembly to be able to implement and as the leader of the house, he wants to open a smooth way so that there will be no hindrances.
He mentioned ways and means to build intercity relations by contacting specialists in Accra and other parts of Ghana to execute that mandate as one of his cardinal points of reasoning for taking up the mantle of position.
Hon. Assembly members were sworn in to office of the 9th Assembly for the West Gonja Municipal Assembly by Lawyer Virginia Funga from the office of the athony general, Tamale.
