NALAG ends Extraordinary Delegates Confab
An Extraordinary Delegates Conference, put together by the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG) to adopt a revised Constitution and Standing Orders of the association, has come to an end in Koforidua, capital of the Eastern Region.
In his welcome address at the conference, the Eastern Regional Minister, Emmanuel Victor Smith, said decentralisation had brought in its wake the bureaucracy and technocracy of governance to the local level, and it was therefore, important to ensure local level professionalism in the assemblies.
According to him, it was an indisputable fact that the performance of the individual quality improves the organisation in which the individual works.
He stated that service delivery at the district level required efficient human resource and sustained capacity development of all actors, which the conference sought to underline.
He charged them to be guided by the principles of selflessness, justice and fairness, accountability, transparency and more importantly integrity.
He further entreated the gathering to put their shoulders to the wheel to ensure that the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections are conducted in an atmosphere of free, fairness and transparency.
On his part, the President of the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG), Ebenezer Akuoko Frimpong, said the conference could not have come at a better time than now, since it would afford the members the opportunity to adopt a revised Constitution and Standing Orders of the association.
According to him, in order for members of the association to carry its constitution, there was the need for its members to be adequately resourced, paving the way for effective operations.
Appealing to stakeholders in the decentralisation and local government locally and internationally, it would be prudent for the members to raise the needed funds to undertake programmes of the association.
He further appealed to the government to fulfill its promise to pay allowances to assembly members from the Consolidated Fund, as contained in the government’s white paper.
The Minister for Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD), Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, throwing light on the activities of NALAG, said that NALAG was a major stakeholder in the decentralisation process, and its role over the past two decades had greatly contributed to the much-talked about success of Ghana’s decentralisation programme.
According to Mr. Ampofo, a revived NALAG was fundamental to the development of local governance and social development in Ghana, since experience had shown that decentralisation was needed to deliver high quality local public services.
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