DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES

Development Issues

This chapter considered development issues that emerged from the previous chapter in relation to the relevant thematic areas of the National Medium – Term Development Policy Framework for 2018 – 2021. The preparation of the Plan is also informed by the current local conditions and future projections for the transformation of the Municipality with the view of providing better standards of living for residents and visitors. It also considered the socio-political environment and the focus of leadership and management of the Assembly. Hence, the Plan represents the ambition and vision of all major stakeholders. Community needs elicited during problems identification have been harmonized with key development issues derived from the performance review. The table below shows harmonization of community needs and aspiration of the people with identified development gaps/issues.

From the table above, the average score of 1.95 revealed that there is a strong linkage between the community needs and aspirations and the key development issues which has implications for 2018 - 2021.

The following are the list of harmonized community needs and aspirations with key identified development issues of the Akuapem North Municipal Assembly:

1. Untimely release of funds to perform mandatory functions

2. Lack of comprehensive and updated data on ratable properties and other businesses

3. Poor conditions of roads and inadequate drainage systems

4. Poor state of market infrastructure and complimentary facilities

5. Non-functionality of some sub-district structures and poor support for them

6. Inadequate health facilities and accommodation for health workers

7. Inadequate classroom blocks for basic schools and poor state of some school blocks

8. Inadequate ICT laboratory for schools

9. Inadequate financial support for enterprises and business associations

10. Poor state of some health facilities

11. Inadequate agriculture extension officers

12. Low access to credit facilities by farmers and other businesses

13. Post-harvest losses in the farms

14. Undeveloped tourist and historical sites

15. Poor state and management of public toilets

16. High incidence of youth unemployment

17. Inadequate and lack of parental care and control for children

18. Absence of planning schemes for new settlements

19. Lack of water and toilet facilities in some schools

20. High incidence of road accidents and disasters

21. High birth rate, high incidence of teenage pregnancy and  low family planning acceptor rate

22. Low performance among BECE candidates

23. Inadequate funding of Water and Sanitation Sector

24. Inadequate office spaces and furniture for Municipal assembly staffs

25. Inadequate vehicles for regular monitoring of programmes and projects

26. Poor support for sub-structures of the Assembly

27. Inadequate security in terms of street lights and police posts

The harmonized key development issues with implications for 2018-2021 are presented in a matrix under GSGDA II in table 2.2 below.

 Harmonization of key development issues under GSGDA II with implications 2018 – 2021 with Agenda for Jobs, 2018-2021

For the purposes of continuity of relevant ongoing programmes and projects, issues associated with them under GSGDA II have been harmonized with those of the Agenda for Jobs, 2018 -2021. This is presented in table 2.3 below:

Adoption of Development Dimensions and Issues 

Issues under GSGDA II and the Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies were matched to determine their relationships in terms of similarity for adoption. Consequently, issues under GSGDA II adopted were replaced those of Agenda for Jobs together with their corresponding goals and sub-goals as presented in table 2.4 below.

Table 2.4: Adopted Development Dimensions and Issues of ANMA

DEVELOPMENT PROJECTIONS, ADOPTED DEVELOPMENT DIMENSIONS, ISSUES, POLICY OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES

Projected Development Requirements for 2018 – 2021

For the Assembly to be able to achieve its mission and vision for the planned period as well as contribute to the development of the Eastern Region and Ghana at large, development projections have been made for revenue and expenditure, population, education, water, health, etc.

Revenue and expenditure projection

The Akuapem North Municipal Assembly operates a balanced budget which implies revenue received is expended appropriately. That is revenue is equal to expenditure. Consequently revenue and expenditure projections for the medium term (2018 to 2021) have been made based on the 2017 actuals. From table 3.1 below, a total of GH¢36,513,412.00 is expected as revenue and to be expended over the plan period.

Population Projections

From the 2010 Population and Housing Census, it was established that the population of the Municipality was growing at a rate of 2.1%. Based on this, projections were made for the 2018-2021 plan period with 2017 as the base year. Table 3.2 below shows the estimated population for the Municipality for the period 2018 – 2021.

Education projections

Considering the current student and teacher’s population and the existing education infrastructure for the 2017/2018 academic year, as against the entire population of the Municipality, projections have been made to forecast the sector’s development requirements for the plan period. Below are projected requirements or expected performance of the education sector in tables 3.4a to 3.4f.

 Water and sanitation projections

As stated in the profile, Ghana Water Company is responsible for supply of water to residents on the ridge. However, others living down the ridge especially in the rural areas depend largely on boreholes, hand dug wells and other sources of water. As a result the Assembly has proposed to construct a total of 40 new boreholes across the district and rehabilitate broken down ones. Also, Assembly intends to scale-up door-to-door collection of refuse from the pilot stage to cover the entire district as well as encourage households to construct household toilet facilities. Some thirteen (13) communal or public toilet facilities will also be constructed at various locations and under specified management partnerships with the private sector. In addition, an engineered land fill site will be constructed at Kwamoso for proper disposal and management of refuse generated in the Municipality.

Health projections

Considering the projected population for the plan period and the existing number of health facilities and personnel, it envisaged that the district hospital (Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital) which has a much wider sphere of influence with clients from beyond the Eastern Region would expand it scope of services. Also, additional 3 CHPS compounds shall be constructed to render services to clients within their catchment areas and to reduce pressure on the hospital.  Nurses’ quarters shall also be constructed to help provide accommodation for health workers serving in these facilities.

Other projections

Other development projections for the Municipality include:

1. Ensure effective functionality of all the eight (8) Town/Area Councils of the Assembly by 2021

2. Increase Internally Generated Revenue base by 20% annually and achieve 95% collection of IGF annually 2021

3. Ensure that 90% of population have access to potable water and improved household toilet facilities by 2021

4. Achieve Open Defecation Free status for 30 communities in the Municipality by 2021

5. Prepare planning schemes for at least first ten largest communities and ensure compliance through effective
     development control by 2021

6. Ensure 10 communities in the Municipality have their street’s named and properties addressed by 2021

7. Achieve 90% pass in B.E.C.E and improve educational delivery by 2021

8. Increase agriculture production by 30% by 2021

9. Enhance local economy through improved access to electricity, road and other infrastructure, business
    development service and job creation by 2021

10. Increase accessibility to health care services in every community by 2021

Sustainability tests

The under listed projects from the POA have been subjected to sustainability test and these are presented in the Annex 2 of this document. These include:

1. Rehabilitation of dilapidated schools in the municipality

2. Construction of 3- unit classroom block at Tei Nkwanta

3. Construct 4 seater KVIP Gender friendly toilet facilities in Basic Schools

4. Construct 4 seater KVIP Gender friendly toilet facility in special schools

5. Construction of ICT center and library at Larteh, Tutu and Obosomase

6. Construction of Senior High School in Okorase

7. Construction of a fence wall at Mangoase SHS

8. Rehabilitation of health center and refurbishment at Larteh

9. Construction of nurses quarters at Adawso

10. Construction of clinic at Obosomase

11. Construction of CHPS compound at Tei Nkwanta

12. Upgrade / rehabilitation of Daakye Clinic

13. Construction of 13no. Public toilet facilities

14. Construction of selected roads

15. Construction of drainage facilities on selected roads

16. Re-gravelling of 2.5km access road to Kwamoso refuse dump site

17. Rehabilitation of Adawso market – Mangoase road

18. Construction of 0.9m diameter culverts at Larteh bypass and Okorase

19. Construction of Kerb type A along selected roads

20. Grading and spot improvement of selected roads

21. Rehabilitation of selected roads in the Municipality

22. Completion of fence wall, pavement, stone pitching and concrete drains at Assembly premises

23. Provision of 40no. boreholes municipal wide

24. Rehabilitation of 9no boreholes

25. Promotion of tourism at Akropong and Obosomase waterfalls

26. Rehabilitation of the Residence of the Municipal Chief Executive

27. Construction of a 1no. CHPS compound with KVIP at Okorase

Evaluation

Evaluation is the periodic assessment of a project’s relevance, performance, efficiency and impact both expected and unexpected in relation to stated objectives.

Interim evaluation during implementation of projects will be conducted as a first review of progress, a fore knowledge of a project’s likely effects and as a way to identifying necessary adjustments in project design.

The most important terminal evaluations will be conducted to ascertain whether the resources invested have produced or are producing expected level of the outputs and benefits and the benefits are reaching the intended target population. An evaluation report will be properly documented by the MPCU emphasizing on benefits and lessons learnt.

Some of the issues that would engage the evaluations are the following among others;

• Objective - Have the project objectives been achieved and the objectives still relevant?

• Time and Finance - is the project cost within the amount estimated?

• Beneficiaries and benefits - is the project impact realized and the benefits reaching the target beneficiaries?

• Operations - is the project operating at the planned level?

A summary would be provided giving an overall picture of successes and failures and the lessons which have been learned in carrying out the programme/project.

Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation Arrangement

At the community level a participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E) will be adopted in which monitoring will be the responsibility of the unit committees, Assembly members and others. They will be drafted to form monitoring teams at the local level. The Municipal Planning and Coordinating Unit (MPCU) will be responsible for monitoring as well as contacting the various sectors to partake in the exercise. Monitoring will be done on regular quarterly basis and quarterly programme reports submitted by the MPCU to the Assembly for discussion. The final monitoring report will be submitted to the relevant bodies and agencies e.g. Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Ministry of finance NDPC and the Regional Coordinating Council.

A key feature of this plan is to put in place appropriate arrangements for continuous Midterm and Terminal Evaluation of the MTDP to assess not only the achievement of objectives but also to ascertain the relevance of such objectives in meeting the goals of National Policy Framework for achievement of national targets. The evaluation exercises is therefore expected to provide a better insight into the effective designs of new plans and would be done through strong collaboration with NGOs, CBOs, in the communities. The table below is a summary of the various types of evaluation to be conducted, the expected period of action, the key actors and the specific techniques to be adopted.

In addition to the above actions the MPCU shall also embark on District Poverty Profiling and Mapping as part of the terminal evaluation to appreciate the trend or changes on how poverty is spatially manifested with time over the plan period.

Conclusion

Monitoring and Evaluation of the 2018-2021 Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) for the Akuapem North Municipal Assembly is to serve as an important management tool which is expected to provide a system of accountability, responsiveness and transparency in the allocation of resources for the MTDP.

In this regard an attempt has been made by the MPCU to consider essential elements required in monitoring and evaluation such as the identification and analysis of stakeholders for monitoring and evaluation, accessing the strengths or capacity of the Assembly in conducting monitoring activities and development of a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation matrix to provide a framework for monitoring. Attempts have also been made to develop an efficient schedule for monitoring plan achievements, while effective arrangements have been made for proper data capture and reporting procedures as well as dissemination of results to stakeholders.

Given the issues identified in this plan, it is essential that this plan shall be utilized diligently to monitor and evaluate the projects outlined in the 2018-2021 Medium Term Development Plan of the Akuapem North Municipal Assembly.