By Peter Agengre
The Upper East Regional Minister, Stephen Yakubu has expressed worry that the signing of performance agreements by Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDA’s) have not produced any physical development to the people.
He said it is not the matter of signing papers and using the files to decorate the offices but it is about commitment at the Municipal and District levels to initiate development programmes.
The Upper East Regional Minister was addressing Municipal and District Chief Executives and Coordinating Directors during the signing of performance agreements.
The signing of the Performance Contract is expected to guide the activities of the Municipal and District Assemblies towards delivering life changing services to the people. It is a requirement of the Local Governance Act, 2016 (ACT 936) and would help promote high levels of performance by the Assemblies.
Speaking at the event, the Upper East Regional Minister, Stephen Yakubu said the core matter of the exercise is to plan development for the people in the various Districts. He said the whole idea of decentralization is to create jobs for the people who would then pay back taxes for the development of the area.
”Many jobless youth could take advantage of any mechanized water system in the Community to engage in farming activities that would be a source of employment to others”, he said.
Mr. Yakubu has urged the MDAs to change their way of doing things from the previous years.
”Just signing documents and speaking big grammar is not the best way to go”.
He said he would be visiting the various Assemblies to monitor their development plans that are expected to help improve the livelihood of the people.
The District Chief Executive for Builsa South, Daniel Kwame Gariba who spoke on behalf of the MDCEs said signing the Performance Contract was a pledge they had made and would work with the staff of the Assemblies to achieve the contract targets.
