The Role of Presiding Members Critical in Reducing Waste
According to him, PMs and Assembly Members who serve as the representatives of the people are key stakeholders in the district Assembly system who make accountability, transparency and probity work at the local government level.
He said this when he was speaking at a meeting with Presiding Members, District Chief Executives and Assembly Members in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region on Friday, August 16, 2013.
The meeting held by the Inter-Ministerial Co-ordinating Committee (IMCC) in collaboration with the MLGRD sought to provide participants with the requisite knowledge on the interpretation of audit reports pertaining to the finances of the Assemblies.
Mr. Opong Fosu said the position of PMs as speakers of the local Assemblies and chair of the Audit Report Implementation Committees (ARIC) places them in a very critical position in seeking accountability from persons entrusted with the management of national resources.
He said their ability to interpret audit reports would enable the PMs to pursue the effective implementation of the recommendations therein.
To this end, he emphasized the need for PMs to be equipped with the requisite skills and tools to enable them play their role in the governance of the MMDAs effectively.
Mr. Opong Fosu also stressed the need for Assembly Members to be competent and objective in the discharge of their functions adding that "Chief Executives, Co-ordinating Directors, Heads of Departments and staff, strongly demonstrate their commitment and co-operation to the work of the assemblies in order to ensure that resources are used for their intended purpose".
The Kumasi Mayor, Hon. Kojo Bonsu, who stood in for the Regional Minister in his welcome address, commended the minister and the Executive Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Co-ordinating Committee on Decentralization for instituting such a programme.
He was hopeful that the programme would go a long way to deepen decentralization in the MMDA's.
Some Presiding Members at the Workshop