Be bold to comment on Oversight report for correction – APRM tells constituents
The National African Peer Review Mechanism Governing Council (NAPRMGC) has impressed on Ghanaians to muster courage to offer constructive comments on the District Oversight Committee findings with the view to improving on the District Assembly concept.
Professor Miranda Greenstreet, member of the NAPRMGC, said the findings which reflect views eventually would be incorporated in a report to govern us therefore, it was important that citizens expressed their views freely before its implementation.
She warned that citizens would have themselves to blame if they failed to bring out their views on the findings for correction.
Prof. Greenstreet was addressing the people of Shama in the Western Region at a forum during which the District’s Oversight report was presented to collate their comments before submission to the District Assembly and finally to the appropriate quarters for implementation.
“As residents of a district, you are the only people who can ascertain the truthfulness of this report, where the situation is different from what the report has indicated; please draw the attention of the committee to it”.
She emphasized that the exercise was non-political but rather aim at improving the socio-economic wellbeing of the citizens.
Prof. Greenstreet appealed to the Assemblies to prioritize issues that need to be urgently addressed and draw up action plans accordingly.
During discussion on education, the participants admitted that educational performance was poor in the District and blamed some teachers for that.
They complained that the teachers deliberately reserve the best lessons for extra classes where they put in their maximum thus depriving those who fail to attend, their knowledge.
Some of the participants wished that the free education policy be phased out for them to pay school fees “because what being is demanded by the schools is more than the school fees”.
“Today buy exercise books, tomorrow buy draft papers, the next day it is PE pants, another time it is PTA dues and others, it is too much” some remarked.
On girl-child prostitution, they disagreed with the Oversight findings explaining that teenage pregnancy was different from prostitution and saw the report as tarnishing the image of the District on morality.
Most of the participants were not happy about the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) at the Government Hospital saying, clients were dispensed with only cheaper drugs like paracetamol and were made to buy the expensive drugs.
Source: GNA