DCEs who undermine MPs risk losing their jobs – Iddrisu
Mr Haruna Iddrisu, the Minister of Communications, has issued a strong warning to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives whose activities undermine Members of Parliament (MPs) to desist or they risked losing their positions.
He said MPs were the representatives of the people while the chief executives were appointed by the President to help execute programmes and projects of the government and that the two should complement each other’s efforts to push the development agenda forward.
Mr Iddrisu gave the warning on Monday at a durbar of chiefs and people of the Chereponi constituency during which Mr Samuel Abdulai Jabanyite, MP for the area, accounted for his stewardship in the one year that he took office as MP.
There was a huge crowd to welcome the MP and his entourage into the town amidst singing and drumming and praises for the numerous development initiatives for the district during his short stay in Parliament.
Mr Iddrisu said every DCE must work harder and collectively with MPs to ensure that those MPs retained their Parliamentary seats as well as capturing more seats to ensure that NDC had ultimate control of the next Parliament.
“All that we do as Ministers, as DCEs and as other government appointees should translate into success stories that would give the Ghanaian voter the confidence to return President Mills and the NDC to power in 2012”, he said.
He said, “When we fail, we have failed President Mills and we have failed Ghanaians. We should not forget that at the end of our tenure of office we would account to Ghanaians and there is the need for us to be able to recount our success stories instead of the electorate reminding us of our failures.”
He called for peace, unity and togetherness in all spheres in ensuring that the government’s “Better Ghana Agenda” was achieved and appealed to DCEs and his colleague ministers to help achieve the government’s agenda.
Mr Iddrisu said the government was working hard to ensure that economic and social conditions of Ghanaians especially rural dwellers were improved to justify the confidence the people reposed in the government.
He said the government had secured some 100 million dollars to embark on rural electrification and that the project would begin in 2011 and assured communities without electricity to have patience.
On agriculture, he said the government would increase allocation of mechanized equipment to farmers to enable them increase production.
He commended the MP for the area for his development vision for the constituency and advised him to collaborate with the chiefs and people of the area to seek peace and development.
Mr Jabanyite expressed gratitude to the chiefs and people of Chereponi for voting massively for him during the November 2009 by-election and gave the assurance that he would continue to work to meet the aspirations of the people.
He has secured a 15-seater van, anti snake vaccines and some wheel chairs for the Chereponi Health Centre and a Nissan Pick-up for the Wenchiki Clinic.
Mr Jabanyite won the Chereponi by-election in November 27, 2009 following the death of Doris Seidu, NPP MP for the area.
Source: GNA