8 WR MMDAs Undergo Performance Assessment

Eight Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the southern part of the Western Region have undergone a thorough performance assessment in line with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development's performance assessment and monitoring programme for MMDAs nationwide.

They are Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan, Nzema East Municipal, Ahanta West Municipal, Jomoro Municipal, Ellembelle, Mpohor, Shama and Wassa East District Assemblies.

Issues examined under the assessment exercise ranged from agriculture, health, education, adherence to fiscal discipline, generation and utilisation of revenue, holding of statutory meetings to the implementation of the Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) and other government programmes geared towards boosting rural economic development.

Mr Augustine Collins Ntim, Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development who conducted the assessment during a 3-day tour of the Assemblies last week, expressed satisfaction with their general performance but singled out the Mpohor District Assembly for an outstanding performance in agriculture, specifically under PERD in the entire Western Region.

The Deputy Minister who is in charge of Rural Economic Development and Agriculture praised the Mpohor District Assembly for raising and distributing 468,000 cocoa seedlings to 456 farmers and 210,000 oil palm seedlings to 500 farmers in the district in the 2017/18 farming season in addition to setting up a District Centre for Agriculture, Commerce and Technology (DCACT) as a depository of all government policies and programmes in the district.

He described the Assembly's efforts as a lofty contribution to the government's commitment towards rural economic development using PERD as the conveyor belt.

The PERD, a strategic national tree crop development initiative, developed by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) and supported by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ghana Export Promotion Authority(GEPA) and the One-District-One-Factory Secretariat seeks to promote the cultivation of some selected tree crops namely cocoa, cashew, coconut, cotton, oil palm, citrus, coffee, mango and shea mainly for export and economically empower farmers to help trigger rural economic growth.

Its ultimate goal however, is to position Ghana to become a leading world producer of cashew within the next five to 10 years.

Mr Ntim reiterated the commitment of the sector Minister, Hajia Alima Mahama to all government policies and programmes that ultimately find expression at the district level and urged all the MMDAs to play their expected roles to help make them successful.

Under PERD, the Nzema East Municipal Assembly raised 250,000 cocoa seedlings and 150,000 para rubber seedlings, Jomoro, 120,000 cocoa, Ellembelle, 22,000 coconut and 127,509 para rubber, Ahanta West, 120,000 cocoa and Wassa West, 20,000 oil palm for free distribution to farmers in their areas.

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