The Millennium Excellence Foundation (MEF) has bestowed a prestigious award on the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mrs Elizabeth Kwatsoe Sackey, in recognition of her historic achievement as the first female Mayor of the City of Accra.
The award ceremony was instituted in collaboration with the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) with support from the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF).
It was on the theme: “Recognising, transparency, accountability and evidence-based decision of the National District Level.”
The ceremony was held at the Accra City Hall to showcase the Foundation’s commitment to celebrating outstanding leadership and excellence in governance.
Mrs Sackey assumed office in January 2021 and has been instrumental in implementing transformative policies and initiatives aimed at improving the lives of residents in the capital city of Accra.
Her visionary leadership, dedication to public service, and innovative approach to governance have garnered widespread acclamations both locally and internationally.
A citation presented by the Executive Board, MEF, highlighted the mayor’s achievement as the “first female Metropolitan Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly after 123 years.”
Mrs Sackey expressed gratitude to the MEF for the honour and emphasized the importance of collective action in achieving sustainable development goals and reaffirmed her commitment to serving the people of Accra with integrity and passion.
Professor George Gyan-Baffuor, the Chairman of the NDPC, pointed out that the award ceremony was important and remained critical to encouraging stakeholders to pushing for efficient resource allocation for development, especially in the area of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).
He reiterated the mandate of the Commission to monitor and evaluate development outcomes at the national and sub-levels as a requirement to annually assess districts for Ghana’s development.
Prof Gyan-Baffuor said the District League Table (DLT), since its inception, had served as one of the important assessment tools in promoting transparency, accountability and evidence-based decision-making at the sub-national level.
“Permit me to state that the District League Table is not a ranking of the performance of the district assemblies concerning the level of service delivery to the citizenry… It is not a verdict on the performance of the MMDCEs,” he said.
“Rather, it tracks development at the sub-national level to identify those districts that are handicapped in terms of the wellbeing of their populations and allows effective decision-making and resource allocation.”
The 2022 DLT indicated that there had been an overall improvement in the delivery of basic services such as sanitation, water and electricity in some districts across the country.
The event, which saw award presentation to metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies for their contribution to the WASH sector, was attended by government officials and civil society representatives among other dignitaries.
Source: GNA
