Administrative Arrangements

Under the decentralized local government being pursued by the Government of Ghana, the District Assemblies are the main Administrative, Political and Planning Authorities at the Local (District) levels.

To give practical meaning to participatory democracy and development, Parliament came out with the appropriate laws that gave legal backing to the formation of the Unit Committee/Zonal/Area Councils.  For these committees, among other things, are to serve as the “action” wings of the Assembly in project implementation.

The successful implementation of the programmes and projects outlined in this document for the general improvement of the welfare or living conditions of the people of the district is highly dependent on the kind of peace and security that prevail throughout the entire area of the District.

It is realized that some of the decentralized departments of the Bole District Assembly (for example Town and Country Planning Department) and full staff complement of the District Planning and Coordinating Unit are not in place.  This acts as a limiting factor for successful co-ordination and integration of development efforts as well as the logical execution of this plan.  The Assembly should therefore liaise with the appropriate Ministries for the establishment of the non-existing decentralized departments and further recruit key skilled personnel into the district.

Another critical issue that the Assembly needs to direct attention to is the promotion of local level initiatives in implementing some community projects or self-help projects, for example public places of convenience, environmental conservation programmes etc.  Traditional authorities, pressure groups (Youth groups), Civic Unions and religious organizations need to be well coordinated and integrated into the local and/or district development efforts in order to make maximum use of all available resources in the Bole District.

The District Assembly will need external funding to complement her own and government resources in project implementation.  An “External Fund Negotiation Committee” made up of committed and honest persons are therefore proposed to be formed.  This committee will be charged with the identification, initiation and persuasion of potential investors (private individuals, NGO’s, International Organisation, etc) into the district development” process.  The committee would “advertise” the resources of the district or document them in a “ready-to-hand” brochure to attract such investors.

Lastly, officials of the Assembly need to exhibit much transparency in their dealings with the public.  This calls for holding of regular durbars and meetings, for instance, to inform the public on some of the activities or operations of the Assembly.  In furtherance to this, the Assembly needs to institute appropriate corrective measures to control recurrent expenditure.  It is also important for the Assembly to re-vitalize her own revenue mobilization efforts by streamlining revenue collection and accounting procedures.  This will help check or reduce   “leakages” often associated with District Assembly revenue.