Mr Alhassan Mahamudu Kamara, Coordinating Director of Sagnarigu Municipal Assembly, made the appeal at a town hall meeting at Kalpohin, a suburb of Sagnarigu, where residents raised concerns about poor sanitation in the area and the measures the Assembly had instituted to address the situation.

The town hall meeting was organised by the Justice and Peace Commission of the Sacred Heart Parish in collaboration with the Catholic Archdiocese of Tamale and the Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference with support from Conrad Adenauer Stiftung.

It was on the theme: "Community Participation in Local Governance for Rapid and Sustainable Development".

Mr Kamara pleaded with traditional and religious leaders in the area to stop pleading on behalf of individuals caught disposing waste indiscriminately such that they would be disciplined under the by-laws to deter others.

Alhaji Abdul Razak Saani, Northern Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education, who chaired the event, reminded the citizenry of the referendum and the District Assembly elections to be held in December, urging them to take part in them.

Dr Asitik Joseph, Chairman for the Laity Council, Sacred Heart Parish, expressed the need for government and other organisations to focus on the innovative skills and potentials of the youth and offer them jobs rather than focusing on people with higher certificates without skills.

Mrs Comfort Afelik Asitik, President of the Justice and Peace Commission of Sacred Heart Parish, Kalpohin, advised the citizenry to continue to actively participate in local governance activities to ensure accountability and transparency as well as sustainable development.

Some students of Kalpohin Senior High School, who were also present at the meeting, appealed to the Sagnarigu Municipal Assembly to help provide more toilet facilities in the school to help ease the pressure on the two existing ones.