All posts by : uwrcc

The Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Hon Amidu Chinnia Issahaku on 13th February, 2019 handed over three tricycles to three cooperative groups at the forecourt of the Regional Coordinating Council. The donation is part of the bilateral collaboration between the Government of Ghana and Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) to support women and youth groups in the Upper West Region.
According to the Team Leader of the project, Cornelius Kunkara, the project which is made up of seven components, is sponsored by Korea International Cooperation and implemented by ACDEP. He said, farmer groups are identified, trained for a week under the project and asked to submit business plans which are assessed and short-listed on merit. He added that winners emerged from the short-list and are given tricycles to support their rural transport, generate income for themselves and also help in cutting farm produce to and from their farms.
Mr. Kunkara indicated that, last year seven farmer groups benefited from the project and that monitoring mechanisms are put in place to ensure that the tricycles are well maintained and the group together with the community benefits from it. He hinted that more of such support would be coming this year in different phases.

The Upper West Regional Minister Hon. Alhassan Sulemana at the first 2019 staff durbar on Thursday, 17th January, 2019 called on staff of the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council to remain committed and hardworking in the discharge of their duties. The staff durbar that is held twice or thrice every year, creates the avenue for Staff and Management to interact, and address key issues bordering the organization by find lasting solutions to such concerns to enhance service delivery.
The Minister commended staff for their dedication to duty over the years and charged all staff to remain committed and go the extra miles in discharging their work schedule so as to improve service delivery in the year 2019. He added that, his observation during 2018 was that, many staff were hardworking whiles others were not as committed in the discharge of their duties at work as they could have been. He advised staff to put up their best whichever level they find themselves, and always try to share ideas at work and learn best practices from each other. “Wherever you find yourself at work, always try to be the pivot point or center of the organization and share ideas with one another because wisdom is not in one person’s mind. You might think you are the only one who knows much or you are the best at work until you get closer to others to share ideas” he noted.
Hon. Sulemana encouraged staff to be punctual at work and avoid rumor mongering and other unhealthy workplace practices. He said, rumor mongering breeds suspicions and leads to petty squabbles that kill organizational progress. The Minister assured staff that his doors were opened to all and called for all hands on deck in pushing the developmental agenda of the region forward in other to fulfil the vision of His Excellency the President for the Upper West Region.
The Deputy Director and Head of Central Administration, Mrs. Fati Issahaku Koray disclosed at the durbar that punctuality to work was a key area that would be monitored this year to enhance better service delivery and that officers who absent themselves from work without permission would be queried and sanctioned. She said such attitude retrogress organizational success and must be stopped. She also thanked the Regional Minister on behalf the staff for his open door policy that make him accessible to staff to address their issues.
A key challenge noted at the durbar was the lack of official vehicles for the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council. Consequently, staff of the RCC are calling on Government to as a matter of agency come to their aid by procuring some vehicles for the RCC. It was noted that the Regional Minister and his deputy are currently using old and weak V8 Land Cruiser registered 2010, and Toyota Prado respectively making maintenance expensive.

The Upper West Deputy Regional Minister, Hon. Amidu Issahaku Chinnia on Tuesday, 6^th November 2018 appealed to all MMDAs to pass bye-laws to compel people who construct compound houses to incorporate sanitation facilities in them. Hon Amidu Chinnia said this in his welcome address during a one day orientation workshop on district sanitation fund on 6^th November, 2018 at Nuoyong Empire Hotel.

According to him, landlords constructs houses without sanitation facilities (latrines) thereby making it very difficult for tenants to observe proper sanitation.

“Pass bye-laws as one of the major means of changing the attitude of our people. We all come from communities, and various towns. We see the amount of money people invest in building compound houses and if I go to rent one or two rooms in someone’s compound house, you don’t expect me to build a latrine on my own. The owner of the compound house is supposed to make provision for a sanitation facility in that compound house.  I want to urge the MMDCEs and the Assemblies to pass bylaws to compel people who construct compound houses to incorporate sanitation facilities in these houses” he explained.

Hon. Chinnia indicated that, once people build houses without toilet facilities, the individuals who go to rent such houses would have no option than to do open defecation. He therefore charged the MMDCEs and the Assemblies to force people who invest in building houses for rentals to incorporate latrines and sanitation facilities in their plan.

He added that, considering the investment that we can make in the area of sanitation relative to the investment we make in curing people when they fall sick, it was better for us to choose the former. He said, we spend less investing in sanitation, then allow people to do open defecation and live in environments that are dirty and subsequently fall sick and government has to spend public funds to cure them.

He noted that, people who do their little investment and get some small money would have to spend all those funds in treating ailments as a result of poor sanitation. This is one challenge that continues to impoverish the people.

He advised that, the minds of the people should be orientated good in sanitation.

According to him, it was better to invest in improving our sanitation situation which invariably would cut down on sanitation related illnesses.

The sanitation marketing programme was a new module being introduced under the GOG-UNICEF WASH programme.  A key component of the sanitation marketing (SANMARK) Program will be the establishment of the District Sanitation fund.  This fund is a type of sanitation financing facility to be set aside by the District Assemblies aimed at providing financial support for the construction of household latrines in the Districts. Sources of funding for the district sanitation fund includes: (A) 2% of the District Assembly common fund. (B) Internal generated fund (c) Donor agencies; development partners and corperate bodies.

Mr. Chinnia Issahaku encouraged all MMDCEs to take advantage of the sanitation fund in solving sanitation problems in the various Districts. He said, sanitation has become one of the biggest challenge in Ghana, with a lot of development partners putting in a lot of funds trying to solve the problems but there is still no positive results.

He advised MMDCEs to immediately set up the fund and get desk officers or committees to manage it base on an annual plan.

“Once the sanitation fund is set up from the common fund and it is operational, the development partners would come in to give their support, and a lot of things can be done. We need to be creative and innovative enough in getting things done to support the Government rather than pocketing our hands waiting for common fund to come before something can be done” he added.

The Upper West Regional Minister, Hon Alhaji Sulemana Alhassan, lauded the good research conducted by Community Development Alliance (CDA), NORSAC and RISE Ghana on petty corruption at the public health facilities in the three Northern Regions and called on all hands to be on deck in the fight against corruption in Ghana. He said Government could not fight it alone, but a change in our attitude could minimize corruption in our society.

Hon Sulemana Alhassan said this in his address at a round table discussion on petty corruption study conducted on public health facilities by CDA Ghana, NORSAC and RISE-Ghana. He commended the organizers of the programme for creating the platform for discussing pertinent issues bothering the region’s development especially on corruption.

He indicated that the year 2019 is a promising one for the good people of the region and that the good foundation laid by the government will begin to bear fruits for all to benefit.

He added that, corruption as we are all aware, was a very serious problem in our nation. He said, within the fourth republic, every Government had suffered all kinds of accusations and allegations of bribery and corruption.

“According to the Advance Oxford Dictionary, corruption means lack of integrity or honesty. It also means the use of a position of trust for dishonesty gain” he noted

He indicated that, with this explanation of corruption in mind, it means that, if we cast our net wide, we may be surprised the level of corruption we would find in the society. He said most of the time, we focus on the abuse of office by political appointees to the neglect of the everyday public servant who uses his or her position of trust for dishonest gains.

Hon Sulemana said the research work by CDA in collaboration with NORSAC and RISE Ghana on petty corruption at the public health facilities would inform managers of such facilities on what goes on at the health facilities at their blind side. He added that the research would also  hopefully alert all institutional heads in the Region who provide essential public services to be more vigilant and put in place realistic measures to protect our disadvantaged citizens from dishonest officials.

According to him, at the national level, Government was doing a lot to fight corruption within and out of Government. He said Government has strengthened anti-corruption state institutions and resourced them adequately to carry out their mandate.

He explained that Government has also enacted the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, appointed a Special Prosecutor and a Deputy and as well established a secretariat for them to work.

“ In the 2019 budget,  Government allocated 180 million Ghana cedis to the Special Prosecutor to do his work and plans are far advanced to complete the necessary legislative instruments needed to make the office fully functional” he noted

The Executive Director of Community Development Alliance, Mr Salifu Kanton speaking at the forum, indicated that the research work was centered on the three Northern Regions to know the level of petty corruption happening at the various health facilities. He said, petty corruption at the health facilities is a national problem but for the sake of their study, the three Northern Regions were selected for the research of which the final report would soon be launched either in Tamale or Wa.

The research indication of perception on corruption at the health facilities, revealed that 97% of patients and 96% of healthcare workers observed that bribery and corruption is widespread within the healthcare delivery system, whiles 67% of patients and 62% of healthcare workers agree that corruption is accepted as normal in the delivery of healthcare.

The research further reveals that, about 34% of health workers indicated that unofficial payments from patients happen very often, whiles 50% of health workers indicated that their co-health workers often engage in corrupt practices at the health facilities.

According to the lead researcher, when a direct question was thrown to the health workers as to whether they have ever involved themselves in any corrupt practice, 40% of health workers said they have ever been involved with corruption at the health facilities. About 51% of health workers however said they often give preferential services or better treatment to their friends and family members which they believe do not amount to corruption.

Upper West – August 13–17, 2018: The Head of Local Government Service, Ing. Dr. Nana Ato Arthur and a team from the Office of the Head of the Local Government Service (OHLGS) have paid working visits to and interacted with staff of the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) and the eleven (11) District Assemblies in the Upper West Region. The sequence of the visit were to Sissala East Municipal, Sissala West and Lambussie District Assemblies. The others were Nandom, Lawra, Jirapa, Wa East, Daffiama Bussie Issa, Nadwoli, Wa West Districts and Wa Municipal Assemblies.

The working visits kicked-off with a courtesy call on the Upper West Regional Minister, Alhaji Alhassan Sulemana and his Deputy, Amidu Issahaku Chinia at the RCC during which the Head of Service indicated that the tour forms part of a strategy to better position the Service to achieve its mandate of a “world class decentralized and client-oriented Service”. The Regional Minister recounted some challenges and the efforts being made for the delivery of improved services by the District Assemblies.

Addressing staff at the various Assemblies, Dr. Arthur emphasized his vision for the Service anchored on five thematic areas namely: building capacities of staff; sharing of best practices among Assemblies; improving revenue mobilization including the use of IT; sanitation management; and professionalism. He called for collaboration and team work to achieve the mandate of the Service. He said localizing development is the greatest way to foster people’s development hence a professional’s conference will be organized in September, 2018 to deliberate on how to deepen the relevance and importance of Local Governance in the country. The open forum brought to light teething issues that affect working conditions which were addressed accordingly.

The Municipal and District Chief Executives were elated and commended the Head of Service for the visits as it will boost the morale of staff in the performance of their duties. They outlined strategies and measures initiated for the realization of the goals of the various Assemblies including achieving Open Defecation Free (ODF) status in the area of sanitation across the Region.

The OHLGS team that accompanied the Head of Service included the Acting Chief Director, Mr James Oppong Mensah, Director for Policy, Planning, Budget, Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr. Gregory Addah and other senior staff.

The Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Hon. Issahaku Chinnia Amidu, on Wednesday admonished the various assemblies in the Upper West Region for their continued low turnouts to important meetings organized to help change the fortunes of the region. According to him, his two  years working as the  Deputy Regional Minister at the Regional Coordinating Council, he has observed that most of the District Assemblies in the Region are doing a lot of disservice to the region.

Hon. Chinnia said this, when he was addressing participants at the Regional Review and Operational Planning meeting held at the Regional Library complex by GIZ. He added that there is no commitment shown by most of the Assemblies to serve the purpose of its establishment nor its vision. The planning meeting that was supposed to start at 8:30am ended up commencing at 10:00am with only few Assemblies represented at the meeting.

Whiles calling on staff of the Assemblies to remain committed and resolute in the discharge of their duties at work, he called on Municipal and District Chief Executives (MDCEs) across the Assemblies to develop the habit of motivating and inspiring the technocrats at the various Assemblies and make them feel important and part of issues ongoing at the Assemblies. He said, when workers are recognized at their work place and also motivated, they would always give out their best at work.

He noted that the political heads can never succeed without the technocrats and for that matter should be carried along in other to achieve the developmental agenda of the region.

Delivering an address on behalf of the Regional Minister, Hon. Chinnia thanked the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and GIZ for the various roles they played in the implementation of the program in the region. He indicated that the program seeks to support MMDAs improve their internal generated funds through property rates and business operating permits. He added that the programme will support Planning, budgeting and improve cooperation amongst Decentralized actors at national, regional and district levels.

According to the Deputy Minister, over a year of implementation of the program in the region, it has chalked some successes but much still need to be done. He said through the program, members of the Municipal and District Planning Coordinating Unit were trained on the new guidelines for the preparation of the MTDPs in all the four MMDAs.

He added that refresher workshops were organized on Fee Fixing Resolution in Kumasi for some key Assembly staff and another three refresher trainings organized for Physical planning officers in Tamale and Kumasi through the program. He said, over Twenty thousand (20,000) properties were fully digitized in Wa township whiles 12,000 properties were fully digitized in Lawra Township.

He noted that it was his expectation that this year, all activities developed during the meeting would be implemented by the various MMDAs as their own and captured in their Annual Action Plan. He added that MMDAs should take note that GIZ-SFDR would support activities that would emanate from the operational planning meeting and not the entire activities of the Annual Action Plan of Assemblies.

Hon Chinnia used the opportunity to appeal to GIZ-SFDR to review its regulations to enable MMDAs get the needed support (funds, logistics and technical) on time and on regular basis to help speed up the implementation this year’s programmes. He said the cumbersome procedures in assessing funds slows the implementation of the program and this results in funds not been utilized and therefore defeating the objectives of the program.

The Zonal Coordinator for GIZ, Mr. Simon Manu reiterated his disappointment in the Assemblies for not showing up for the meeting as compared to other regions.

“I am not too happy because of the attendance”, he stated.

He said though he is sad about the turnouts, he hopes that the programme will be successful and among the best in the country.

Mr. Simon Manu called on the people of the region and the assemblies to take the work plans of GIZ serious especial ways to improve their internal generated funds to do good things for their respective districts.

Upper West Deputy Regional Minister presented 5 tricycles, 1 grinding mill and cash support to 7 CBOs in the region following a successful capacity building training. This is a collaboration between the RCC, KOICA and ACDEP. More CBOs will benefit from similar packages in the coming days. Many thanks to the Korean government for helping to build our people’s capacity and further supporting them with working materials with the ultimate aim of reducing poverty in our region.

The Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Hon Hamidu Issahaku Chinnia, has ignited a debate on names given to children in the country. He called on parents to consider giving their children traditional names instead of only Islamic or Christian names.

Speaking at the 2018 edition of the Upper West Regional Art and Cultural Festival on Wednesday 15^th November 2018, Hon. Chinnia argued that traditional names given to children will help give them an identity regarding their culture which Christian or Islamic names cannot.

He urged traditional rulers to mobilize their people in maintaining their culture as religion and modernization were fast eroding the Ghanaian culture saying: “as custodians of our culture you must take center stage in trying to mobilize our people in maintaining our culture and tradition because modernization and religion is fast eroding our culture” He mentioned that a time will come when our children will not know about their culture. We must work in maintaining our culture else it will be a big disaster.

Touching on naming of children, Mr. Chinnia said the only way people in the region are able to identify their people is through their names. He therefore appealed to parents to consider giving them traditional names stressing that; “we now find a lot of people bearing Christian and Muslim names without local name. One means by which we can identify our people as Dagaabas, as Waalas, as Sissalas and all other tribes in the region is the traditional names we give to all of them. So let me appeal to all of us to give our kids local names so that we can identify them in accordance with our tradition”.

The Deputy Regional Minister also expressed concern at the penchant of parents to teach their children only English Language at the detriment of their mother tongues. He therefore appealed to parents to teach their kids their language by saying;” we have to keep emphasizing our local languages. These days most of us teach our children English Language in the house, in the school, everywhere because of modernization. Don’t let us do that at the expense of our local languages so that these kids grow up and they can’t speak their local language”.

He further urged the elderly to involve their children in the performance of traditional activities in order that they grow up with it.

www.uwrcc.gov.gh