Administrative and Institutional Arrangement

The administrative and institutional arrangements covering the District, as in the other 109 Districts, stem from the local Government Act, 1993(Act 462), the National Planning (System) Act, 1994 (Act 480) and the Civil Service Law, 1993 (PNDC Law 327) which lay the framework for decentralisation of governance and participatory development at the district level, the District Assembly being the highest political and administrative body in the District.

The District Assembly And Its Structure & Functions

The Abura- Asebu- Kwamankese District Assembly consist of forty-five (45) members made up of the following:

The District Chief Executive who is appointed by the President of the Republic with the prior approval of not less than two-thirds majority of the Assembly members present,

The Member of Parliament who does not have voting powers at Assembly meetings.

Thirty (30) elected members from the thirty electoral areas; and

Thirteen members appointed by the Government.

The Assembly has a presiding Member who is elected every two years by not less than two-thirds majority of the members of the Assembly present. He convenes and presides over the meetings of the Assembly. He is also the Chairperson of the Public Relations and Complaints Committee as well as of the Credit Approval Committee for the Productivity Improvement employment and Income Generation programme for which 20 percent of the District’s share of the District Assemblies Common Fund is allocated. In accordance with Section 10 of the Local Government Act, 1993 (Act 462), the District Assembly exercise political and administrative authority as well as deliberative, legislative and executive functions in the District.

Charged with the broad responsibility for the overall development of the district through the preparation and implementation of the development plans and the budget related to the approved plans, its function include:

Formulating  and  executing  plans, programmes  and   strategies  for the  effective mobilisation of the resources necessary for the overall development of the District;

Promoting and supporting productive activity and social development in the district and removing any obstacles to initiative and development.

Initiate programmes for the development of basic infrastructure;

Responsible for the development, improvement and management of human settlements and the environment in the district;

In co-operation with the appropriate national and local security agencies, responsibility for the maintenance of security and public safety in the district;

Ensuring easy access to courts in the district for the promotion of justice;

Initiate sponsoring or carrying out such studies as may be necessary for the discharge of its functions;Monitoring the execution of projects under approved development plans and assess and evaluate their impact on development;

and

Co-ordinating and harmonising the execution of programmes and projects under approved plans for the district and other development programmes promoted and carried out by ministries, departments and corporations and other statutory bodies and no-governmental organisations in the district.

The District Assembly meets at least three times a year (Section 18). When not in session, the Executive Committee of the Assembly carries out the executive and administrative functions of Assembly. The Executive Committee consists, by a Resolution on August 17,  1999, of the  Chairperson and Secretaries of its six (6) Sub-Committees. The Chairperson of the Executive Committee is the District Chief Executive, who is the political and administrative head in the district. The Executive Committee meets periodically at the discretion of or when needed by the District Chief Executive. He is therefore responsible for the performance of the day-to-day administrative and executive functions of the Executive Committee and eventually of the District Assembly. He also supervises the decentralised departments in the district.

Under Section 21 of Act 462, the Executive Committee exercises the executive, administrative and co-ordinating functions of the Assembly when not in session. Its functions include the following:

Co-ordinating  plans  and  programmes  of the  sub-committees  and  submit  these  as comprehensive plans of action to the District Assembly;

Implementing resolutions of the Assembly;

Overseeing the administration of the district;

Recommending to the District  Assembly the  economic,  social,   spatial  and human settlement policies of planning, programming, budgeting and implementation;

Integrating and co-ordinating the processes of planning, programming, budgeting and implementation;

Initiating and implementing development programmes and projects at the district level;

Monitoring and evaluating all policies, programmes and projects in the district levels,

Monitoring and evaluating all policies, programmes and projects in the district.

In conformity with Section 24 (1) of Acts 462, the Executive Committee has five sub-committees as well as a sixth established by a Resolution on August 17, 1999:

Development Planning Sub-Committee

Social Services Sub -Committee

Works Sub-Committee

Justice and Security Sub-Committee

Finance and Administration Sub-Committee

Environmental Management Sub-Committee.

Each Sub-Committee is responsible for deliberating on issues relevant to it and submits its recommendations to the Executive Committee of the Assembly, which in turn presents them to the Assembly for approval. For the purpose of national development planning, the District Assembly, in accordance with Section 46 of Act 462, is also the District Planning Authority. Under this Section of the Act, there is additionally a District Planning Co-ordinating Unit.

The functions of the District Planning Co-ordinating unit are spelt out in Section 7(1) of the National Planning (system) Act, 1994 (Act 480). They include:

Advising and providing a secretariat for the District Planning Authority in its planning programming, monitoring, evaluating and co-ordinating functions.

Co-ordinating the planning activities of sectional department in the district responsible for economic, production, social services, technical infrastructure, environmental management and other appropriate agencies connected with the planning process;

Synthesizing the strategies related to the development of the district into a comprehensive and cohesive framework;

Formulating and updating the components of the district development plan, and providing such data and information as may be required.

The administrative and institutional arrangements place on the District Assembly, more than ever before, greater responsibilities and challenges in the over-all development of the district. To put teeth into these arrangements, and in order to assure sustained development in the district, the District Assemblies Common Fund Act, 1993 (Act 455) provides quarterly financial resources on the basis of formula approved by Parliament.

Sub -Structure Of The District Assembly

In a sustained logical effort to actualise a situation where decentralisation of participatory decision -making and implementation of felt needs is brought to the smallest meaningful units of communities, that is, the grassroots, the Local Government (Urban, Zonal and Town Council and Units Committees) (Establishment) Instrument, 1994 (L.I. 1589) has provided two lower-level structures under the District Assembly. These sub-structures are the Town/Area Councils and the Unit Communities.

There are in the District eight (8) Town/Area councils and eighty (80) Unit Committees. These are:

The Ayeldu Area Council under which are eleven (11) unit committees,
(2) Abura Dunkwa Area Council under which are five (5) Unit Committees,
(4) Abakrampa Area Council with eleven unit committees,
(5) Nyanfeku Ekroful Area council with eleven (11) Unit Committees,
(6)Moree Area Council with fourteen (14) Unit Committees,
(7) Amosima Area Council with (6)Unit Committees, 
(6) Unit Committees and (8) Asebu Area Council under which are twelve (12)

unit Committees.

The Town/Area Council consists of twenty (20) members made up of:

Elected member(s) of the District Assembly who has/have been elected from electoral area within the area of authority of the Town/Area Council.

Ten representatives from the Unit Committee in the area of authority of the Town/Area Council elected annually and on rotational basis except that each Unit Committee is represented on the Town/Area Council by the end of the rotation.

Five (5) persons ordinarily resident in the area appointed by the District Chief Executive acting on behalf of the president after consultation with

(1) the Presiding Member and (2) traditional authorities and organised productive economic groupings in the area.

Each of the eight (8) Town/Area Councils and eighty Unit Committees has a Secretary appointment by the District Chief Executive except that the Secretary of the Unit Committee is not a full-time public officer.

The function of the Town/Area Council include:

submission of quarterly administrative returns including development programmes and progress report on its activities to the District Assembly;

making fortnightly revenue returns;

submission of monthly revenue and expenditure financial statements to the District Assembly;

Report all personnel recruitment and staff disciplinary actions to the District Assembly;

Enumeration and keeping of records of all rateable persons and properties in the area;

Assisting any person authorised by the Assembly to collect revenue due to the Assembly;

Recommending to the Assembly the naming of all streets in the area of authority and causing all buildings in the street to be numbered;planting trees in any street and to erect tree-guards to protect them so that streets are not unduly obstructed;

Prevention and control of fire outbreaks including bush fires;

Organising with other relevant organisations annual congresses of the people of the area for the purpose of discussing the development of the area;

Responsibility for the day-to-day administration of the area;

Erranging revenue collecting contracts with the Assembly and collect revenues due to the Assembly;

Preparing annual recurrent and development budget of the Town/Area Council for approval by the Assembly;

Providing and maintaining community services in the area;

Taking such steps as may be necessary to prevent disasters including floods and bush fires in the area;

Preparing short, medium and long-term development plans for the area;

Making proposals to the Assembly for the levying and collection of special rates for project, programmes within the area;

Implementation of schemes, subject to the approval of the Assembly, for economic development and social justice as may be entrusted to them.

The Town/Area Councils have two committees:

A Development and Services Committees;

A Finance and Administration Committees and there is a legal provision (Section 33 (2) for the establishment of an ad hoc committee as may be necessary to perform special functions assigned to it. The Unit Committee consist of fifteen (15) persons made up of:

Ten (10) persons ordinarily resident in the unit elected at a meeting called by the Electoral Commission for that purpose; and

Five (5) other persons ordinarily resident in the unit appointed by the District Chief Executive acting on behalf of the President after consultation with the Presiding Member

Any traditional authorities and organised productive economic groupings in the unit.

The functions of the eighty (80) Unit Committees include:

Supervision of the staff of the District Assembly assigned to its area of authority;

Assisting the Town/Area Council to enumerate and keep records of all rateable persons and properties in the Unit;

Assisting any person assigned by the Area Council to collect allocated and contracted revenues on behalf of the Area Council;

Mobilisation of members of the unit for the implementation of self-help and development projects;

Monitoring the implementation of self-help and development projects;

Taking all lawful steps to abate any nuisance;

Responsibility, under the guidance of the Register of Births and Deaths, for the registration of births and deaths in the unit;

Providing a focal point for the discussion of local problems and taking remedial action where necessary or making recommendations to the Assembly, where appropriate through the Town/Area Council;

Organizing communal labour and volunteer work, especially with regard to sanitation;

Monitoring the implementation of enactments regulating the use of chain saw in the unit;

Overseeing the performance of staff of the Town/Area Council and the District Assembly assigned to work in the unit;

Educating the people on their rights, privileges, obligations and responsibilities in consultation with the District Branch of the National Commission for Civic Education.

Implications Of The Administrative & Institutional Arrangements

More than ever before, the foregoing administrative and institutional framework places on the peoples on the people of this District at meaningful hierarchical order from the district level to the smallest practical grass-root level, greater and increasing responsibilities, challenges and opportunities as well as sustained resource inflows never experience before in order to facilitate participatory, knowledgeable decision-making and fulfillment of those needs considered by them satisfying and contributing to improvement in the quality of their lives.