The Most Reverend Gregory Kpiembaya, Archbishop of Tamale Diocese of Catholic Church, appealed to members of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to unite to develop their communities.
He said peace and unity were the bedrock of good governance and development at the local level and stressed the need to use dialogue to resolve political and economic differences for the country's progress.
Most Rev. Kpiembaya made the appeal when addressing the opening session of a three-day civic education workshop on good governance for 50 Assembly Members drawn from Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions in Tamale.
The Tamale Ecclesiastic Province Pastoral Conference (TEPPCON) and the Management of Konrad Adenaeur Foundation (KAF) jointly organised the workshop on the theme: "Good Governance and Development at the Local Level".
It was to assist the participants to have better understanding on good governance at the local level and to educate them on the need for unity within the assemblies on issues relating to development.
Most Rev. Kpiembaya said it was important for good governance to begin at the local level and to extended to the Central Government on the execution of policies beneficiary to people at the grassroots.
Mr Klaus D. Loetzer, Resident Representative of KAF, said it had worked in
Ghana for the past 41 years to ensure good governance and peace building for chiefs and local authorities.
He said development should begin from the local level to complement national agenda to ensure equitable provision of development projects for the people in the country.
Mr Loetzer said assembly members were front line development agents of their communities and urged them to use the experience that they would acquire from the training at the disposal of their communities.
Mr Marshal Ziema, Tamale Metropolitan Planning Officer, who spoke on behalf of
Mr Mohammed Amin Adam, Tamale Metropolitan Chief Executive, called for understanding among assembly members and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives to facilitate development.
He said development was about enhancing chances and choices of the people to
participate in the good governance process.
"Governance is not only about human centred projects and physical infrastructure but also empowerment of the people to participate in
decision-making", he said.
Mr Charles Abass, Northern Regional Co-ordinating Director, said the workshop was a rare opportunity for the participants to effect changes in the assemblies to promote good governance.