Oppong-Fosu best for Local Government Ministry-Akuoko-Frimpong

                                 

THE President of the National Association of Local Authorities (NALAG), Mr Ebenezer Akuoko-Frimpong, has described President John Mahama’s nominee for the position of Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Akwasi Oppong-Fosu, as the best person suited for the job.
He described Mr Oppong-Fosu as an achiever who had gone through the mill of almost every aspect of the local governance structures to become the Head of the Local Government System (LGS) for four consecutive years.
Mr Akuoko-Frimpong was reacting to comments by a former President of NALAG, Mr George Kyei Baffuor, who claimed that the President’s nominee did not have the wherewithal to deliver.
In the Wednesday, January 16, 2013 edition of this paper, Mr Kyei-Baffuor, who was mistakingly described again as Member of Parliament for Asutifi North, was quoted as saying that he doubted if the President’s nominee would be able to rise to the occasion.
But in his reaction, Mr Frimpong disclosed that Mr Oppong-Fosu had been District Secretary for 10 years during the military era headed by former President J.J. Rawlings and was also made to continue as District Chief Executive for another eight years, when the country entered democratic regime because of his achievements.
He added that the nominee had used his rich experience gained over the years to steer the affairs of the LGS from 2008 to date and stated that he was not surprised because the nominee served as a Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development during the Rawlings Administration.
Mr Akuoko-Frimpong said through the instrumentality of Mr Oppong-Fosu, over 2,000 staff were recruited to beef up the human resource capacity of the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) as a result of gaps identified during a nationwide human resource audit of all MMDAs.
Mr Oppong-Fosu also served the United Nations as an Advisor on Local Authorities; became the Chairman of the Economic Management Community of African Caribbean and Pacific Local Government Platform in Brussels, Vice- President of the International Union of Local Authorities and the President of African Union of Local Authorities.
 Mr Akuoko-Frimpong said other achievements of the nominee at the LGS included the operationalisation of the composite budget which had been on the drawing board for several years as well as facilitating the building of the human resource capacity through training and other sensitisation programmes.
“Currently, the service has its own scheme of service, human resource policy, conditions of service and has streamlined the reporting relationships in the MMDAs, all in an effort to fully implement administrative decentralisation”, he added.

Published: January 21, 2013