ASSEMBLY MEMBERS SHOULD BE REWARDED ADEQUATELY — BRAIMAH (PAGE 13, APRIL 15, 2010)

A MEMBER of the Council of State, Naa Seidu Braimah, has called for proper remuneration for members of district assemblies.
That, he said, was because the work of assembly members was a difficult one and characterised by problems which constantly keep them involved in events in their respective electoral areas.
Naa Braimah, who was addressing the first ordinary session of the Sissala East District at Tumu in the Upper West Region, noted that in some electoral areas, motorcycles of assembly members served as ambulances since they were used to convey sick people to hospitals and clinics.
Others, he stated, were also asked to support weddings and naming ceremonies, while in some areas, funeral donations by assembly members had been institutionalised.
He further appealed to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to put in place measures which would soon pave the way for assembly members to take their allowances from the consolidated fund.
He commended assembly members for their efforts so far, in spite of the enormous challenges they faced, and urged them to unite and do more for the people.
Commenting on the decentralisation process, Naa Braimah explained that the system came with a lot of challenges, which when properly handled could impact positively on future development.
He advised assembly members to initiate and implement programmes to provide adequate essential services in basic education, health and environmental hygiene.







































“They must also mobilise resources and determine sound priorities of lower level development while placing more emphasis on human resource development if they would be able to achieve these”. Naa Braimah stressed and added that district assemblies must create the requisite school environment for schoolchildren and students and also motivate and encourage teachers to surmount the challenges which came with their work.
Naa Braimah, who is also the Guli Naa, further called for fruitful cooperation among district assemblies members and advised them to work to promote the material and human resources in their respective areas.
He said assemblies could only achieve their objectives when members continued to be non-partisan.
Naa Braimah said district assemblies must recognise chiefs and other traditional leaders as agents of development and advised chiefs to complement efforts of the assemblies in to mobilise revenue and enforce bye laws. He also asked them to serve as role models to the people and appealed for the payment of realistic allowances for chiefs.
Touching on the Bawku conflict, the council of state member appealed to the feuding factions to lay down their arms and go back to the negotiating table.
He described as unacceptable, the recent shooting and maiming of innocent people in Bawku and said “Guns only destroy lives and property but cannot resolve any impasse or misunderstanding”.