The Head of Local Government Service, Dr Nana Ato Arthur, has asked the various coordinating directors across the country not to interfere with the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP) which was launched on July 31, by President Akufo Addo.
The DRIP funded by the District Assembly Common Fund and donor partners, aims to address infrastructure challenges within the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
Speaking at the 7th Annual General Meeting of the Association of District Coordinating Directors in Kwahu, Dr Arthur indicated that the GH¢1,000,000 which will be given to all assemblies for fuel purposes for the DRIP is not to be tampered with by the coordinating directors.
He also tasked them to ensure that the governance structures work.
“When the president finished his own, all the MMDCEs and regional ministers, came to the office of the local government service… While speaking to the MMDCEs, they told me ‘Chief talk to your coordinating directors’. Do you know why?
“GH¢1 million is to be sent to each assembly for fuel and that is where they said I should talk to you. That GH¢1 million coming is not for you. Look, I don’t want to threaten anybody but these four months ahead of us is not a good time,” he stated.
Nana Ato Arthur further noted that tracking devices have been installed in the machines and that coordinating directors will first be picked up by the police if the machines find their way to galamsey sites.
On his part, the President of the Association of District Coordinating Directors Ghana (ASDCOD) Francis Darko Drah made a passionate appeal to the government through the Ministry of Local Government Decentralisation and Rural Development to deal with the absence of official vehicles for coordinating directors.
According to the association, the current vehicles being used by the directors were procured in 2011 hence frequently breaking down in the middle of journeys and causing waist pains a situation which is affecting their outputs.
