(Upgrade Ayawaso East to municipal status)

11/9/09

Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru

SPEAKERS at a community meeting at Maamobi in Accra have appealed to the government to raise the status of the East Ayawaso Sub-metro into a municipality.
They argued that the population of the sub-metro was large enough to grant it a municipality status.
Besides, they said, the people in the area needed to use their own internally generated revenue to develop the area.
The Chairman of the East Ayawaso Council of Zongo Chiefs, Chief Imoro Baba Issa, the director of the East Ayawaso Sub-metro, Mr Divine Ayiezor, President of the Federation of Youth Clubs (FYC), Mr Adam Abdul Fatah, made the appeal at the community’s quarterly meeting organised by the FYC in collaboration with the Legal Resources Centre (LRC).
It was on the theme: “Community Development Through Participation.”
Chief Baba Issa said Nima and Maamobi in the East Ayawaso sub-metro were old settlements, and wondered why new communities such as Ashaiman and Adenta should be given municipality status but not Nima and Maamobi.
He said the people in the area paid taxes to the sub-metro for onward transmission to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).
Chief Baba Issa claimed that the AMA used the taxes to develop other areas whereas the sub-metro had a lot of developmental challenges.
Mr Ayiezor supported the suggestion that Nima and Maamobi be upgraded to a municipality status.
He expressed the belief that the area would see massive development if money generated within the sub-metro was used for its development.
The President of FYC, stressed the need for the government to consider raising the status of the East Ayawaso sub-metro into a municipality since the area lagged behind in terms of development.
He said the development of the area could be well coordinated if the area was given a municipality status.
Touching on democratic participation, a representative of the National Commission for Civic Education, Mr Zac J. Katugu, urged the people to participate effectively in the democratic governance of the country.
He charged the people to be interested in development projects in the area and expose contractors who used substandard materials or diverted materials.
He asked the people not to limit their participation in politics to elections but rather continue to be in the forefront in all spheres of governance.
The acting National Coordinator of the National Youth Council (NYC), Dr Sekou Nkrumah, stressed the need for the youth to be initiative and take advantage of the numerous opportunities in the country.
A governance consultant, Mr Ahmed Khalid, urged the people to read the country’s constitution to know their rights and responsibilities as citizens.
Other issues discussed at the meeting included the need for the people to coordinate efforts at promoting education and fighting the cyber fraud (’Sakawa’) menace in the area.