President must reward Unit Committees-Moshake

Accra, Oct 8, GNA - Mr Stephen Ashitey Adjei, a Tema-based politician, has called on President Akufo-Addo to institute a reward system for Unit Committee members of the various Assemblies across the country.

“When you come to the Assemblies, it is the Unit Committee members who work the hardest; they are the back bone behind the coordination of local governance, but when the tenure of the Assembly comes to an end, Assembly Members are paid ex-gratia while the Unit Committee members get nothing.

At a news conference in Accra on Tuesday, Mr. Ashitey Adjei, who is popularly called Moshake bemoaned the situation where, at the end of the life cycle of every Assembly, Unit Committee members are sent home empty-handed.

“This is absolutely discriminatory and I am calling on President Akufo-Addo to do something about it,” Moshake said.

He said as a parting gift, at the closing of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly,  the Assembly allegedly approved an amount of GHC 7,000 for each Assembly Member, while the Unit Committee members got nothing.

He said during the closing ceremony, the Acting Chairman of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) Unit Committee, Joshua Tei Aguda, showered praises on management and the Assembly members.

“Instead of him protesting against the discrimination against the Unit Committee members that he was representing, he rather praised the Assembly members.

According to him, part of the reason Unit Committee members were taken for granted and discriminated against in so many ways, was because of weak leadership.

“I will advise future Unit Committee members to elect strong and bold people to lead them so that their welfare can be fought for, “Moshake said.

He however urged President Akufo-Addo to do something about the situation, which he said was unfathomable.

Prior to the news conference, the local politician questioned a decision by the outgoing Assembly to make participants in the ceremony do self-introduction.

It took more than two hours for all participants to introduce themselves because about 500 individuals were at the ceremony.

He said when it got to his turn, he questioned the reasonability of the exercise and refused to introduce himself, pointing out that the exercise was a complete waste of time.

“Over 80 percent of participants who are former honourable members were going to be introduced to receive citation.

“Looking at the number present in the assembly hall, I see the self-introduction as mismanagement of time and lack of seriousness, which undermines efficiency” Moshake said.

GNA

Read Full Story