THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BOLGATANGA EAST DISTRICT ASSEMBLY HELD ON 29TH AND 30TH JUNE, 2021 IN THE NEW ADMINISTRATION OFFICE BLOCK, ZUARUNGU
The meeting marked at 11:20am with an opening prayer by Hon. Norbert Akolgo Akoriga. This was followed by the recitation of Ghana’s National Pledge
In his opening remarks he welcomed all and sundry who were present for the meeting and craved their indulgence to assist him steer the meeting to a successful end. He reiterated the need for members to see themselves as one family who were voted for by their electorates to bring them developments. He also noted in his opening remarks that the Assembly’s work was not do and die affair but rather sharing of ideas.
AMENDMENT OF THE AGENDA FOR THE MEETING
Hon. Ayambila Atera moved a motion that the agenda for the meeting should be amended to included discussion on proper requisition of Tables and Chairs for the Assembly’s Conference Hall. The motion was seconded by Hon. Samuel Awuni without dissent.
EXCERPTS FROM THE HON. DISTRICT CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S SESSIONAL ADDRESS
In his address, the Hon. District Chief Executive expressed his gratitude to all for their various roles they played before, during and after both the Presidential and Parliamentary elections. He noted that the District Election Taskforce set up by the Assembly to ensure peaceful election must also be commended for work well done.
He also in the Sessional Address admonished all and sundry to continue to be decorous in their behaviour so as to bring peace and tranquilities in the District.
He used the opportunity to appeal to the conscience of the Hon. Assembly members to put 2020 elections behind them and work towards the development of the District.
Health: In health front, the Hon. District Chief Executive indicated in the Sessional Address that the promise made by the President to construct a District Hospital would still come on as the Assembly was able to finalized documentation on the land that was acquired at Katanga. He also said that sample soil had been taken and sent to Accra for testing and after the testing the actual work would commence without delay.
He continued in the Address that with emergence of a new Coronavirus Variant called the Delta Variant there was the need to still adhere to the safety protocols in order to avoid contracting the virus.
Roads: Under Roads, the Hon. DCE noted that the Assembly was in touch with relevant stakeholders to give needed attention to list of Roads they submitted to them for construction work to commence and also those that needed re-shaping would also be addressed.
Education: On education, the Hon. District Chief Executive disclosed to members that gratefully there was no any adverse report of Coronavirus infection in any School in the District. He noted that notwithstanding that the Ghana Education Service should not lose its guard but rather intensify monitoring to prevent any School falling victim to the pandemic.
According to him the Assembly had taken delivery of 180 dual desks and same distributed to some basic Schools in the District. Additionally, he said PPE’S were also distributed to mitigate the fight against the deadly Coronavirus.
On alarming rate of Teenage Pregnancy in the District, the Hon. District Chief Executive admonished the Ghana Education Service Directorate to intensity their fight against the menace so as to bring it to the barest minimum. He intimated that even though the District dropped from 2nd position to the 4th position in the Upper East Region there was move room for improvement. He tasked the Hon. Assembly members to spread the message about the Teenage Pregnancy and as well talk to the teenage girls to desist from the act.
He said considering how education was paramount to the Assembly, it had constructed a number of Classroom Blocks in some Electoral Areas in the District He mentioned Electoral Areas such as Ayeltige, Dachio, Tinganoore, Pologo with some still under construction. He added that the Hon. MP for the Bolgatanga East Constituency Hon. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine had also completed and handed a Classroom Block to Nimolgo Primary School. The District Library Project he noted had also resumed and would be completed per schedule. The project he noted was initiated by the MP for the Bolgatanga East Constituency with funding support from GNPC.
Water and Sanitation: The Hon. DCE addressing the issue on the final waste disposal site stated that, the Assembly was still searching for a suitable site since the first site at Zonno – Zore was not suitable as the final disposal site.
Making reference to the fiscal performance of the District Assembly, the Hon. DCE elaborated on the effort being made by the revenue taskforce to rake in some revenue even though the outbreak of the novel coronavirus had affected every Country including Ghana. He also said that the due to last year’s general elections no Assemblies across the country had received District Assemblies’ Common Fund (DACF) thereby retarding progress of developmental projects.
Executive Committee’s Report
- That the Assembly should as a matter of urgency renovate the proposed office accommodation for the Ghana Fire Service but for temporary mitigation, the Assembly should build a temporary toilet facility for them
- The Assembly through the ministry of Highways should draw the contractor’s attention to create Bus stops on the Bawku – Bolgatanga Road.
- The Assembly should collaborate with the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources to establish a Final Waste Disposal Site as a follow up to the Ministry’s request for land for establishment of same.
- Technical and vocational courses should be introduced at the Gambibgo Senior High School, keeping in view the difficulty in getting a brand new Technical and Vocational Institutions.
- The Assembly should identify a suitable place for the establishment of a public Cemetery in the District.
- Honourable Assembly members should help identify people in their communities who are voluntarily ready to be foster parents.
- There should be a mechanism for a proportionate share of the PWD’s fund for the various categories of PWD’s.
- The Assembly should push to get the necessary documents of the motorbikes that were acquired for Honourable Assembly members and register the motorbikes since they are being ceased as unregistered motorbikes.
- The Assembly should take immediate steps to pay the remaining amount on the end of service benefit of the old Assembly members
- The Committee again recommended that, the drafted bye-laws should be made available to Hon. Assembly members to study and make their inputs.
- The Committee also recommended that, the Works Department should ensure that when the CHPS Compounds are built they should be wired separately from the nurse’s accommodation.
- The Committee also further recommended that, management should ensure that Traditional Authorities’ allowances are paid to them
- The Committee recommended that, the F&A convener should liaise with the Committee that was tasked to look into the siting of the Animal Market to bring finality to the issue of the Animal Market.
- That the assembly should release the rooms in the Rice Mills to the Animal dealers where they could keep their animals after a day’s sale.
- Members of the Committee recommended that the Assembly should release one pavilion at the Zuarungu Central Market for Smock dealers
- As a way to motivate the smock dealers at the Zuarungu Market the Assembly should give a tax relief to the smock dealers for three months.
- And also asking management as a matter of urgency renovate the Gambibgo JHS school block because we are approaching the raining season.
- It was also recommended that management should make sure that sod cutting projects passes through the Assembly Members of the receiving Electoral Area.
- The Committee also recommended to management to contact the NDA to get the contractors back on site to facilitate the completion of all ongoing projects.
- Lastly, management should urgently contact the supervising body of the ongoing construction of a drain in the kumbosigo Electoral Area to reassess the quality of work done.
BRIEFING BY CONTRACTORS ON STATUS OF RURAL ELECTRIFICATION PROGRAMME
Mr Raphael Kbersby – Sub-Contractor
Mr Raphael Kbersby a sub-contractor under the Rural Electrification Programme informed Hon. Assembly Members when he was making his presentation to them that he was a sub-contractor and therefore was not responsible for electrifying the entire District. He attributed break in work due to lack of materials from the Ministry of Energy in Accra. He however was optimistic that sooner or later the materials would be supplied by the Central Government for them to commence the remaining work.
Briefing By Richmanda
Richmanda in his briefing on the status of Rural Electrification Programme said he has done about 90% of the work. According to him he was waiting for additional materials from Ministry of Energy to complete the remaining work in the District. For the Assembly members to be updated about progress of work, he said he had been meeting Assembly members last Thursday of every month so members who are interested could avail themselves for the meetings. He also took time to respond to some questions from the Hon. Assembly members.
VOTE OF THANKS
Hon. Jacob Aka-eri expressed appreciation to the Contractors for taken time their busy schedules to brief them on status of work done so far on the Rural Electrification Project in the District. He said members were optimistic that anytime materials were supplied they would complete work on schedule. He also said as and when they were needed to brief members of the house they would not hesitate to do so.
FULL MINUTES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETING 2021
2021 FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETING UNDER EDITING, HELD IN 29-30MTH JUNE