The Nadowli-Kaleo District Assembly held its statutory ordinary General Assembly meeting at the district assembly conference hall.
The DCE, Hon. Katherine Tieyirr Lankono addressed the house and in her address, she said it has always been a pleasure interacting with members during meetings of this honourable house, where we come together to deliberate on matters for collective benefit. Her briefing to the house in sector-by-sector development in the district is as follows;
In Peace and security, she said the district is enjoying relative peace and calm security situation over the period and people are going about their normal activities without any hindrance. Also, she said the Ghana Immigration Service has done some routine inspections of the hotels and guesthouses to track the activities of foreigners/aliens and ensure compliance with the Immigration laws of Ghana within the District.
In addition, community sensitization was done by the Community Development Alliance together with the security Services in the District i.e., Ghana Police and Ghana Immigration on violence extremism. This exercise was held in five (5) communities namely Sampina, Sambaala, Charikpong/Saan, Takpo and Nanvilli. There are periodic joint patrols by the security services in the District along the Black Volta for surveillance and monitoring of activities around the border.
She also commended the security agencies in the district for their professional and hard work in carrying out their duty. She added that security is a collective responsibility so honourable members should help the men and women in uniform to keep the district in peace.
In the area of education, she said for the period under review, the GES in the district has carried out many activities such as the conduct of general health screening for KG to B3 pupils which was supported by UNICEF, distribution of teaching and learning materials, distribution of the LTM laptops to primary school teachers and trainings on the lively minds project.
In addition, as part of our continuous efforts to create a conducive environment for teaching and learning in our schools, the District Assembly distributed one hundred (100) hexagonal tables, six hundred (600) chairs, and 600 dual desks to some selected Schools in the District i.e., KGs, Primary and JHS through the directorate of Ghana Education Service. Also, our special school received a vehicle from World Education to help in their daily activities. The District Assembly in collaboration with the GES has held its 66th Independence Day at Kaleo. Furthermore, the assembly through the MP common fund supported students in various tertiary institutions across the country with an amount of One Hundred and Forty-three Thousand, One Hundred and Ninety-one Ghana Cedi and fifty Pesewas (GH₵ 143,191.50) under the period of review.
In the area of Health, health is often said to be Wealth. She said we have not relented on our efforts to bring health service delivery closer to the doorsteps of our people. The Assembly through its RFG-DACF allocation had awarded contracts to extend electricity to two CHPS compounds and to also drill and mechanize a borehole in one of them and the work has been completed.
Our District is a beneficiary of USAID funded project dubbed “Resilience in Northern Ghana II (RING II)”. Through this Programme, the health directorate has implemented a good number of training programmes and the district has also received two newly posted doctors to the district.
In the area of electricity, she said electricity has become a vital need for most activities in the district and she commends the officers of the VRA in the District.
She said even though some communities in the district are yet to be connected to the national grid. In line with that, installation works have been completed in Da-Damba and Mwaraa-duori communities transformers were installed by the Northern Development Authority awaiting the supply of meters by authorities. She added that, the contractor is on-site to complete the networks at Nawuli-Konkonpare and Zomakyere communities.
In the area of Water and Sanitation, she said ten (10) communities have been provided with a borehole each from the National Security and they have been fitted with the head-pumps and are in use except for the case of Mwanduori which the team forgot to fit the head-pump. Also, the Assembly has equally taken steps to provide more water for communities that are deprived.
Additionally, with support from Global Communities an NGO, the District Assembly is implementing Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) in Forty-five (45) communities while UNICEF is supporting us to do the same in five (5) communities making it fifty (50) communities in total and twelve (12) of these communities are ODF potential.
Furthermore, with support from Global Communities, the Assembly is working in fifteen (15) communities on water safety to ensure that people do not just drink any water but safe water in the district.
In the area of Local Economic Development, the government agenda towards skills development and jobs creation under the Ghana Economy Transformation projects dubbed “YouStart Ghana Jobs and Skills Project” started in the district. Seventy (70) youths made up of sixty-six (66) females and four (4) males across the district were selected to undergo training in entrepreneurship and a readiness and needs assessment exercise was done on the selected applicants to prepare them for the actual training.
The Assembly in collaboration with Ghana Productivity Safety Net Project also facilitated a grant disbursement to One Hundred and Sixty-one (161) selected LEAP beneficiaries who were trained in both piggery and guinea fowl rearing to start their businesses.
Additionally, the Social Welfare and Community Development (SWCD) trained thirty (30) women on soap and detergents production in some selected communities through the support of USAID under RING II activities of the Assembly, these trainings were adequately done to enable the women independently to start their businesses for economic empowerment.
Also, through the Social Welfare and Community Development (SWCD) Department the Assembly undertook the formation of Child Protection Committees within some twenty (20) selected communities and these communities are empowered to educate people on the rights and responsibilities of Children in their various communities.
Furthermore, the DCE said she was happy to report that four cycles have been paid to LEAP beneficiaries and out of the total number of One thousand and Ninety-three (1,093) Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) updated in the District, fifty-three (53) of them were supported for the period under review, including three (3) Special Institutions, ten (10) in school, Medicals of five (5) and 35 of them in income generation.
In the area of Finance, she said there are still gaps in our revenue mobilization which has multiplier effects on service delivery. Some Area Councils are not performing because they do not even call meetings let alone discuss issues that affect the Councils. The IGF performance for the fourth quarter of 2022 and First quarter of 2023 was Nineteen Thousand, Five Hundred and Sixteen Ghana Cedis (GH₵19,516.00) only and Thirty-one Thousand, Four Hundred and Eighty-nine Ghana Cedis (GH₵31,489.00) respectively. The Chairmen of such Councils must wake up from their sleep and work hard.
Hon. Presiding member, having said this let me commend those who have done well especially Nadowli Area Council for their outstanding performance for the under review.
In the area of Roads and other Infrastructure, the District Assembly in collaboration with Development Partners would carry out some projects. These projects if implemented will improve the living conditions of our people. Some fall under the OPBRC (EU-GAP road component) Programme while others fall under the Social Cohesion (SOCO) programmes. The projects include 89.7km of community roads, 1.533km of markets roads and 8.5km of roads and 24 pump stations in the district and Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion (SOCO) will also implement some 2№. Educational facilities, 1№. Health facility,6№. LED facilities and 4 activities for Culture and Youth Development in the district.
The National Identification Authority in the period under review has a total of 549 new registrations, 371 card issuance, 38 replacements and 8 updates of personal records and with the support of the Assembly NIA officer was able to distribute a backlog of cards to applicants.
In conclusion, the government and the District Assembly are doing all that is possible to improve the living conditions of our people. However, there are challenges which will not allow all departments or agencies to function as we all would have expected.
To my Honorable members, Security Officers in uniform, and Staff of the Assembly, I appreciate your contributions no matter how small your inputs may be. Let us do the little that we can to ensure that we give hope and a good future to our children.
