Regional News of Friday, 18 July 2008

Source: GNA

German NGO trains Assembly Members on local governance

Tamale, July 18, GNA - The German Development Service (DED), an NGO operating in Tamale has organized a two-day capacity building training workshop for Assembly Members in the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly to deepen their knowledge on the decentralization system good governance under the local government system.

The workshop, first in a series was also aimed at building the capacity of the members on the roles of the and duties of the assembly member and

meeting procedures. Others included revenue mobilization and preparation and approval of procedures to ensure that Assembly Members were equipped with the requisite knowledge in lobbying for projects to develop their communities.

Mr. Derrick Otten, adviser of the Local Governance Support Programme of DED, said his outfit was interested in working to ensure that good governance prevailed particularly in the developing countries. He said the decentralization process was very necessary under good governance and stressed the importance of the workshop indicating that DED would continue to support bodies that were working for capacity building in peace and good governance. Mr. Otten said Ghana had already marketed itself to the world due to its stability and advised Ghanaians to work hard and develop their nation since no amount of foreign donor support could develop Ghana. Mr. Marshal Ziemah, the Tamale Metropolitan Planning Officer who facilitated the workshop advised members to strive hard in finding solutions to poor revenue mobilization to ensure effective development.