He said the citizenry could achieve the needed development through their active participation in the decentralized governance to influence the policy direction of government to harness development at the district level.

Mr Abdul-Nashir was speaking at the 2018 maiden town hall meeting under the auspices of the Ministry of Information to open interactions between Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDA’s) and the citizenry to promote decentralization as well as ensure accountability.

He said the citizenry needed to be informed on government policies to deepen the country’s democracy and offer a platform for accountability to citizens at the district level.

He said government flagship programmes of Planting for food and Jobs (PFJ), ‘one district one factory’ (1D1F), Free Senior High School (SHS) policy as well as ‘one district one dam’ are geared towards addressing the plight of citizenry.

Mr Abdul-Nashir said the municipality has undertaken several developmental projects and notably among them was; rural electrification in 19 communities as well as the construction of two senior high schools at Langbinsi and Sakogu respectively.    

Scores of people participating in the forum included: traditional authorities, heads of government departments, assembly members, students, women groups, as well as artisanal groups.

At the forum, presentations were made on the achievement attained in the areas of education, agriculture, health, water and sanitation, trade and industry, social protection, peace and security, as well as youth and sports.

Mr Moses Tibilla, Municipal Director of Health Services (MDHS), said the municipality has many challenges including inadequate accommodation facilities to cater for health personnels posted to the area.

He appealed to government to ensure that more of such facilities are constructed to address the accommodation challenges as well as calling for behavioral change among community’s members to support health personnel in the area.