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.
