Wa, July 28, GNA - Action-Aid Ghana has through the district assemblies in the Upper West Region, spent five billion cedis within the past two years on various development projects in support of the country's poverty reduction activities.

Projects which were undertaken included provision of classroom blocks for deprived communities, financing of the rural volunteer teacher programme in all the districts and construction of small scale irrigation schemes to promote dry season agriculture.

Mr Billy Abimbilla, Upper West Regional Programme Manager of the organisation said this at Wa on Monday at a workshop to disseminate fundings on a research carried out on local government performance in five selected districts of the country.

The studies, which was commissioned by Action-Aid was undertaken in Asutifi District of the Brong-Ahafo Region, Sissala in the Upper West Region, Bawku West District in the Upper East Region and Saboba-Chereponi and Tamale Municipality in the Northern Region by the Centre for Development Studies of the University of Cape Coast.

Among the 75 participants at the two-day workshop, were District Chief Executives, their Co-ordinating Directors, Planning Officers, heads of decentralised departments and chairpersons of sub-committees of the assemblies.

Mr Abimbilla said Action-Aid had so far funded programmes to the tune of 29 billion cedis in its operational areas throughout the country between 2000 and 2002.

To realise government's decentralisation goals, he said, his organisation intended to broaden the scope of its advocacy programmes such as promotion of women's leadership at all levels, increase its capacity building efforts and keep track of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy at the district level.

Most of Action-Aid's programmes in the region were concentrated in the Sissala District followed by the Nadowli District.

In an address read on his behalf, Mr Sahanun Mogtari, the Regional Minister reminded the participants that they were the pillars on which the district assemblies rested.

Mr Mogtari said: "People who are put to handle administration, planning and development of our district assemblies should therefore, not be a collection of bureaucrats who are sometimes not well informed about the whole concept of decentralisation and local governance." He advised them to endeavour to command high level of integrity and accountability that would inspire local support and participation in the activities of the district assemblies.

Dr. Stephen B. Kendie, Director of the Centre for Development Studies of UCC, appealed to the government to appoint technically skilled personnel who would place their expertise at the disposal of the assemblies instead of going in for party functionaries to fill its one-third quota.

He noted that Area Councils and the Unit Committees needed to be strengthened to help raise revenue mobilisation in the assemblies.