The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has held a workshop on good governance and leadership for Members of Parliament (MPs) and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to harmonize the relationship between them for development.
The day’s workshop was also to examine the relationship between MPs and MMDCEs, identify areas of empirical research by the Ministry, create a platform for networking between them and discuss the core tenets of leadership and good governance.
The workshop, which was held on the theme: “Enhancing Leadership for Good Governance,” was attended by MPs and MMDCEs from the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions.
President Nana Akufo-Addo, who delivered the keynote address at the workshop over the weekend in Tamale, urged MPs and MMDCEs to work together to improve the living standards of the people and build a progressive and prosperous nation.
He noted that the establishment of strong bonds of cooperation between MPs and MMDCEs would help generate dignified and productive lives for the people.
He emphasised that “It is imperative, regardless of our political, ethnic or religious affiliations that MPs and MMDCEs work together as a team, with the major objective of helping to improve the living standards of the Ghanaian people, and helping to build a progressive and prosperous nation.”
Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah Bonsu, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Majority Leader in Parliament, emphasised the need for MPs and MMDCEs to work to eliminate conflict between them for the benefit of the people.
He was of the view that the election of MMDCEs would not only help to eliminate conflict between MPs and MMDCEs, but also help to develop career MPs and technocrats at the local level to promote rapid development.
Hajia Alima Mahama, Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, urged MPs to focus on the needs of the people by advocating for such needs to be addressed. Dr Evans Aggrey-Darkoh, Acting Chief Director of the Ministry for Parliamentary Affairs, said the workshop would provide the Ministry with ample empirical evidence to craft a position on the nature of the relationship between MPs and MMDCEs, and offer some cogent recommendations to help address the perennial conflict between them for the development of the country.
Dr Aggrey-Darkoh said “The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs is convinced that if the MPs and MMDCEs can have consensus on the fundamentals of life and be guided by the national interest concerns, our current circumstances would improve significantly.”
Meanwhile, the workshop in Tamale completed a nation-wide exercise the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs started on December 17, 2017, on good governance and leadership for MPs and MMDCEs.