ADDRESS  BY HON. MICHAEL KOBLA ADZAHO, DISTRICT CHIEF EXECUTIVE ON THE OCCATION OF ASSEMBLY MEETING ON 4TH AND 5TH AUGUST, 2009 AT THE ADAKLU ANYIGBE DISTRICT ASSEMBLY HALL

Hon. Presiding member, Hon. Members of the Adaklu-Anyigbe District coordinating Director our hardworking heads of department, Togbewo, Mamawo distinguished ladies and gentlemen.

I am privileged to deliver this address to this august house on the occasion of the second general meeting after my nomination and subsequent approval.

Hon. Presiding member, ladies and gentlemen, I would first of all wish to thank his Excellency the President Prof. John Evans Atta Mills for nominating me as the District Chief Executive of the Assembly and secondly to you for endorsing my nomination. I am therefore grateful to you all for the confidence reposed in me.

Hon. Presiding member, ladies and gentlemen, I wish to assure his Excellency the President and the entire Assembly that I will do my utmost best to uphold the tenets of good governance, rule of law and abide by the rules governing my office.

Ladies and gentlemen, this meeting is to discuss the supplementary estimates for the District Assembly and its subsequent approval. This estimates/supplementary budget will serve as the rallying point of effective governance of the district since the execution of our developmental agenda will basically depend on it. I therefore urge you all to take this exercise very seriously so that the best is achieved for the district.

Hon. Presiding member, ladies and gentlemen, for a district assembly to be effective and efficient, the sub-structures are to be made to work. It is in this light that I would want to announce to you of the re-organization of the Area Councils of the Assembly and the unit committees. The date would soon be communicated to you.

Hon. Presiding Member, it is pertinent to note that in line with the sub-committees, six have been formed as follows:
I)    Justice and security
II)   Works
III)  Tourism and Environment
IV)   Social Service
V)    Finance and Administration
VI)   Agric and Development Planning.

Hon. Presiding Member, may I take this opportunity to urge the sub-committees to discharge their duties without fear or favour. I can assure you all of the Assembly’s unflinching support.

Distinguished invited guest, ladies and gentlemen, let me reiterate my earlier submission on the day of my approval to the effect that my top most priority is to complete the assembly office complex. The issue was brought to executive Committee at its last sitting of which an approval was given. I am happy to inform you that an amount of Gh ¢50,000 has been paid to the contractor- Messrs Proko Ghana Limited. He has so far moved to site and work is in progress. It is hoped everything would be completed before the close of November this year and the assembly would definitely move to the new site by December.

Hon. Presiding Member, Hon. Assembly members and heads of departments, the assembly is almost having the full complement of staff needed to effectively run it and as such there is an urgent need for both office and residential accommodation. It is in this light that serious efforts are being made for the completion of the staff bungalows awarded since inception of the assembly. We are however, hoping that three (3) others would be completed and handed over in December this year. This would provide residential accommodation for four (4) officers and their families.
Hon. Presiding Member, ladies and gentlemen, may I sieve this moment to congratulate our hardworking heads of department and also thank them for their support so far.

I wish to inform the heads that my doors are always opened for discussions on their programmes for development of the district.
Hon. Presiding member, ladies and gentlemen, my tenure of office will be centered on hard work, punctuality, and above all accountability.

The Hon. Presiding member, I wish to announce to you that the assembly now has a full complement of membership as a result of colleagues (Assembly members, chiefs and people from Adaklu traditional Area) finally joining us. I wish to thank them so much for the co-operation exhibited. May God bless them.

Hon. Members, I am sad to comment on the abysmal performance of the Assembly in the area of internally Generated Fund (IGF). Our monthly collection is nothing to write home about. It is in the light of the above that I wish to call on the assembly members, chiefs, unit committees as well as Area Councils to wake up in the maximization of revenue mobilization.

Most of the Assembly’s local commitment largely depends on the IGF. Hence the call for all hands on deck.

Projects
Since my assumption of office, the last quarter of 2008’s share of the Assembly’s Common Fund had been credited to the Assembly’s accounts. The entire amount was used to pay debts for which the assembly had been in arrears.

New Projects
Hon. Presiding Member, a lot of educational projects are earmarked to be sited across the district to solve classroom problems. So far plans are far advanced for the construction of a six unit classroom block and staff quarters, for the Adaklu Senior High School. The same project is to be constructed for the establishment of the Ziope Senior High School which will take off soon. Plans are also advanced for provision of potable water for communities which do not have any good source of drinking water.

Petition in Award of Conctracts
Hon. Presiding member, the assembly members petitioned the Hon. Regional Minister on alleged malpractices in the award of some contracts. The regional Minister then direct for an investigation into this allegation.
A three member committee of enquiry was thus set up to investigate and it is hoped the committee will soon come out with its findings.

Electrification
Hon. Presiding Member, the suspended previous government’s (NPP) policy on the SHEP programme, that is supply of Rural Communities with electricity is being brought back by the present government  (NDC) and plans are advance for communities to be connected to the National Grid.

Project Inspection
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I have so far visited all project sites since my assumption of office and had acquainted myself with the various levels of developments. I am also impressed with the level of peace in the district. The security personnel in the district are up and doing and therefore need to be congratulated for their effort. The Regional police commander’s dedication in combating crime and other nefarious activities is laudable. I wish to encourage you all to keep it up and give them the needed support since united we stand divided we fall.

On the Youth front, Hon. Presiding member, I wish to request the young ones to form co-operative groups to enter into farming and other gainful ventures so that they can access funds from government.

I also wish to entreat all to guide against child labour and make sure all children of school going age are enrolled in school to be beneficial to their own future and those of their dependants.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, very soon the wild fire would be with us. All communities are called upon to create fire belts around their towns and villages.  They should also undertake the formation of fire volunteers so as to prevent the perennial fire disaster that we have been experiencing.

Any community that would safeguard its area from being attacked by wild fire would be acknowledged and rewarded.