Mr Tahiru Issahaku Moomin, the Wa Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), has asked Assembly Members to see their work as sacrificial service to their communities, the Municipality, and the nation to propel development.
He entreated them to serve the people they represented and the country at the Local Government Level in a way and manner that the people appreciate their true participation in the decision-making process and governance of the nation.
“Let me be quick to add that this job is a sacrificial one hence all newly elected Assembly Members of the district Assembly should see it as such and work hard for the people and the Municipality as a whole,” he said.
Mr Moomin said this in Wa on Monday during the inauguration of the Wa Municipal Assembly to man the business of the Assembly for the next four years.
The Wa Municipal Assembly is made of 45 Assembly Members comprising 31 elected and 14 appointees.
Justice Abdul Yusif Assibey, the Supervising High Court Judge, Wa, conducted the swearing-in for the Assembly Members in the presence of traditional leaders and some Heads of Departments and Agencies in the Municipality.
Mr Moomin indicated that the Wa Municipal Assembly envisioned an “International standard Municipality” where the people would enjoy the full benefits of modernisation on a peaceful, reliable, and sustainable basis.
The MCE explained that to attain that status, the Assembly sought to harness the available human and material resources for the provision of basic infrastructure and socio-economic services premised on the decision and support of the Assembly Members.
“I must state that our common enemy is poverty and illiteracy and, thus, I would like to use this medium to appeal to all of you to put behind the fallouts of the District Level Elections.
“We have a Municipality to develop, and this should be our preoccupation and prime focus.
Our people require of us the traits of selflessness, devotion to duty, very accountable stewardship, and the ability to deliver efficient services to improve the quality of life and promote prosperity,” he explained.
The MCE observed that though the Municipality had made significant progress in development in the areas of Education, Healthcare, Infrastructure development, Agriculture and Environmental sustainability, there was still much work to be done.
He thanked the immediate past Assembly Members for their selflessness, hard work, and dedication to duty which had contributed to the development of the Municipality.
In a speech, Dr. Hafiz Bin Salih, the Upper West Regional Minster, said the inauguration of the Assemblies signified another milestone towards deepening the decentralised governance system in the country as stipulated in the 1992 Constitution.
He said that constitutional provision enjoined the state to promote decentralisation and popular participation in governance by affording opportunities to the citizenry to participate in decision-making at all levels of governance.
Dr. Salih called for continuous capacity-building activities by the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS) and other relevant academic Institutions for the Assembly Members to enable them carry out their responsibilities and duties as mandated by law.