The Techiman Municipal Assembly is to establish a cashew processing factory to add value to raw cashew for export , Mr. Ebenezer Amoah, the Municipal Planning Officer said on Monday.

He said the Assembly had prioritised and captured the One-District-One-Factory (1D1F) project in its medium term development plan, and added that it had sent a proposal to the government to that effect.

Speaking at an accountability forum at Techiman in the Brong-Ahafo Region, Mr. Amoah said the Assembly believed the 1D1F and the Planting for Food and Jobs programmes remained the surest way to create jobs for the youth and also reduce poverty.

The forum was organized by the Centre of Posterity Interest Organization (COPIO), an NGO with support from the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) and Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), international NGOs and attended by heads of departments, farmers, traders, assembly members and other stakeholders.

It was in line with a project being implemented by COPIO with support from GACC and OSIWA and aimed at strengthening accountability and transparency in the utilisation of public resources at the local level through active citizenship participation for enhanced service delivery and development.

The forum also offered opportunity for the general public to demand accountability from duty-bearers.

Mr. Amoah said the Assembly had also nursed thousands of cashew seedlings to be supplied to farmers engaged in the Planting for Food and Jobs programme.

He said the seedlings would enable the farmers to produce enough raw materials to feed the factory.

Besides, Mr. Amoah added that the Assembly’s medium term development plan had captured in its budget mechanization of boreholes, construction of toilets, paving of Nana Abena Market and extension of electricity to unserved areas in the Municipality.

Other prioritised projects include construction of additional Community-based Health and Planning Services (CHPS) Compounds, organisation of mock examinations, malaria control and HIV/AIDS campaigns.

Mr. Amoah said works on the construction of a dumping site at Fiaso was progressing steadily, adding that very soon the Assembly would construct modern nurses and midwives quarters in the Municipality.

He observed that strayed animals were causing nuisance in the Municipality, saying the Assembly intended to embark on an exercise to arrest all such animals.

Mr. Elijah Mawutor, an Assistant Director in charge of Personnel at the Assembly, said citizens’ participation in deepening public accountability could not be over-emphasized.

He said the Assembly frowned on corruption and appealed to the people to partner with the Assembly to expose corrupt officials to help fight the canker.

Mr. Mustapha Yeboah, the Executive Director of COPIO, commended the GACC and OSIWA for their commitment in helping to promote accountability and fight corruption in the country.

He said the project was yielding positive outcomes as its implementation had helped in deepening the local governance system in the Municipality.

Mr. Yeboah said the project had established Local Accountability Networks (LANets) which were currently monitoring execution of educational and health projects in the area.

In an open forum, Mrs. Siata Kusi, the Assemblywoman for Akisimasu Electoral Area appealed to the Assembly to provide ICT facilities to deprived schools in her area.

She also appealed for extension of the school feeding programme to some schools in the electoral area.

Mr. Zakari Mohammed, the Assemblyman for Tanoso-Ahenfi Electoral Area, said some newly developed areas in the electoral area lacked potable drinking water and appealed to the Assembly to extend water to those areas.

Mr. Kwaku Acheampong, the Assemblyman for Korfoso, also called on the Assembly to extend streetlights to some of the satellite communities to improve security.

Many of the Assembly members also expressed concern about the deplorable nature of some boreholes which needed urgent rehabilitation works.