Addressing journalists at a media soiree organized by the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralization (IMCCOD) on Friday, Febru­ary 24, 2023, the Minister said government is poised to continue to champion its decentralization agenda not to only bring gover­nance and development to the people of Ghana but to improve service delivery and ensure inclusive and sustainable develop­ment across the country through a coordinated and collaborative approach.

Mr. Dan Botwe, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Okere in the Eastern Region also emphasized the need for a paradigm shift towards promot­ing local economic development through rural and urban develop­ment.

That, he said “the status quo cannot remain if we expect to make progress towards an im­proved local governance system where improved service delivery, access to information, and active participation of the citizenry in the activities of local govern­ments among others are vigor­ously pursued. It is therefore our ardent hope that going forward, we would do things differently to achieve the results that we all want,” he said.

Present at the event were vari­ous government officials including the Executive Secretary of the IMCC, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, the Korean Ambassador to Gha­na, LIM Jung-taek, Representa­tives of the German Cooperation, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and other well-known dignitaries as well as journalists.

On his part, Mr. Aboagye emphasized that decentralization is a process that requires time and effort to achieve results. He urged local public service manag­ers to fully exploit the economic potential of their localities using all available opportunities and approaches to achieve sustainable development, decent jobs, and improved service delivery.

The ceremony was also used to launch the Decentralist Magazine. The Magazine aims to promote decentralization in Ghana and provide a platform for stake­holders to share their views and experiences on the subject.