Kintampo (BA), April 1, GNA - Mr. Emmanuel Danso, Senior Operation Officer of the Districts Assemblies' Common Fund, on Thursday observed that the strategic roles the district assemblies play in the overall development of the country cannot be overemphasised. The Constitution, he said mandates Parliament to enact relevant legislations that would allow the assemblies to formulate and execute plans and programmes that would enable them to mobilise the needed resources for development.

Mr Danso made the observation at a day's seminar organised by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, (KAS) for civil society groups from the Kintampo North and Kintampo South districts of the Brong Ahafo Region. The objective of the seminar was to explore the collaborative role of all social actors in the development process at all levels and bring together partners and participants in the local drive for accelerated social and economic development.

KAS is one of the seven German political foundations that seek to promote the ideals of good governance across the globe. Programme Manager of KAS, Isaac Owusu-Mensah said the seminar was organised to boost the morale of civil society to be proactive in the activities of the district assemblies.

Mr. Jimmy Assiamah Yeboah, District Secretary of the Ghana Union of Traders said the seminar would promote better relations between civil society organisations and the district assemblies and create a stable and peaceful social front favourable for investment. Delivering a paper on "Campaign Strategies to win an Election at the District level", Mr. Kofi Gyan, Administrative officer, National African Peer Review Mechanism Governing Council, said preparations towards effective campaigning called for research focussed on an electoral area, including the number of polling stations, registered voters communities, places and where people congregate.

He said election was a formal process by which voters make their political choices on public issues or candidates for public office. This he said called for effective campaign, which consists of resources in terms of talents, skills, abilities of people around and budget. Mr. Gyan said the campaign message, should reflect on the beliefs of the personality, values and what he or she stood for and a well co-ordinated media engagement.

He added that the campaign message should be based on Simple, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time bound analysis. 1 April 10