General News of Friday, 30 November 2012

Source: radioxyzonline.com

Sack Chieftaincy Minister, he is useless - Chief urges Prez

The Chief of Enyan Abaase Traditional Area in the Central Region, Nana Okofo Amoako Boandem, has called on President John Mahama to sack the minister for Chieftaincy and Culture, Alex Ahinsan, if he wins the December polls.

According to the chief, the minister is ineffective and has little knowledge of the sector he is presiding over.

Nana Boandem claims that Mr Ahinsan has never met the Central Regional House of Chiefs since he assumed office.

Nana Boandem laid the charges when President John Mahama visited the Traditional Area as part of Central Regional campaign tour.

“The minister's constituency is Nananom. If you cannot spend your first year of assignment visiting your ten regional houses of chiefs, I dare say that you are useless to our institutions and I wish when you (John Mahama) come to power, you will change it.”

According to him, it is essential that whoever heads the Ministry of Chieftaincy is not a parliamentarian so that the individual can concentrate on the sole constituency of chiefs across the country.

In reaction, President Mahama said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is committed to engaging chiefs in national development hence the effort at deepening the decentralisation system.

He also urged the chief to officially present his concerns about the chieftaincy ministry to his office to be addressed with dispatch.

President Mahama however indicated that one of the best ways to solve problems in the district is to ensure that the basic tenets of decentralization are adhered to.

“The proper arrangement in respect of development will be for us to push decentralization to its logical conclusion so that it won’t have to take the president to come before basic amenities that should be in the district are requested of the president,” he said.

He said under his presidency he has made the commitment to strengthen decentralization so as to “put the destiny of the people in their own hands.