Presiding Members from all the 29 Assemblies in the Greater Accra Region on Thursday March 30, 2023, celebrated Henry Quartey, Greater Accra Regional Minister for his initiatives and general performance

“The Regional Minister has done very well and because of his excellent performance, he was celebrated as the best Minister in 2022, and was recently honoured with the order of Volta Award by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. May we celebrate him with the song, ‘Nipa ye adea, Ose ayeyi”?

Joseph Korto, National Dean of Association of Presiding Members said this during the opening ceremony of the 2023 Greater Accra Presiding Members two-day conference in Accra.

The conference, which is on the theme:” Actualising environmental sanitation in Greater Accra, the role of Presiding Members”, would among other issues build the capacity of members on functions of Presiding Members and initiatives towards the development of Assemblies.

Joseph Korto added, “To be frank, the regional Minister is a gift from God and has made the Greater Accra region proud.”

He particularly commended the regional Minister for “Operation clean your frontage” which he said had paved the way for other regions to undertake similar initiatives to improve sanitation.

“I doff my hat to the Regional Minister, PMs of the region, MMDCES and Assembly members for their cooperation. The operation Clean your frontage policy has come to stay and we as PMs should continue to play our roles to actualise it.”

Joseph Korto, who is also the Greater Accra Dean of Presiding Members called for an amendment to bridge the gap between the dissolution of Assemblies and re-election of members as that vacuum could create developmental challenges.

Baba Seidu, a Representative of the Regional Minister encouraged the Presiding Members to continue serving the country loyally, despite the challenges the country was going through.

He said the PMs were the core players of grassroots democracy as they Presided over law-making and implementation at the local levels and should therefore be revered for their meaningful contribution towards development.

He commanded the Greater Accra Assemblies for retaining most of their Assembly members and Presiding Members as continuity could enhance development.

He announced that the Ashanti, Western and Northern Regions were also making moves to initiate sanitation programmes as a sequel to the Greater Accra Regional Minister’s “operation clean your frontage.”

Samson Akwetey, Representative of Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah, Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources said rapid population growth and urbanisation had contributed to sanitation challenges in the cities and urban areas and called on Assemblies to re-strategise against filth.

He called on the Assemblies to put up monitoring measures to arrest people engaged in the destruction of Sanitation facilities in the cities.

At the end of the opening ceremony, the Presiding Members presented a giant plaque in honour of the Regional Minister.