The Talensi-Nabdam office of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has schooled 96 newly elected assembly and unit committee members about their roles and responsibilities.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency after the programme the District Director of NCCE, Donatus Yin said the programme formed part of the activities of the 11th constitutional week of the NCCE.
He said the reason why the NCCE in the District decided to embark on educating the newly elected assembly and unit committee members was that most of them were not familiar with their roles and responsibilities.
“It is incumbent for the new assembly and unit committee members to know their roles and responsibilities which is very crucial to the development of their constituencies and the nation”, he said.
Mr Yin said past evidence has proved that in the past because the NCCE failed to school this category of the local government, most of the assembly men and women and unit committee members were unable to contribute fully at meetings.
He said as part of the NCCE Constitutional Week, his outfit would be organizing radio fora and community durbars in the District to school the communities about the constitution.
Mr Mike Zure, the District Director in charge of the National Service Secretariat who took the new Assembly and Unit Committees members on their roles and responsibilities entreated them to bury their political differences when it comes to assembly discussions.
He called on the new assembly and unit committee members to always hold meetings with their constituents to brief them about the level of decisions taking place at the assembly meetings and to also seek their views before attending assembly meetings.
“This would help bring development to your respective constituencies”, he said, and appealed to them to also endeavour to mobilize communal labour for development projects.
Mr Zure said most development partners have either abandoned projects in certain communities or have taken them elsewhere as a result of the lack of the spirit to mobilize communal labour for development.
“As newly elected assembly and unit committee members it is incumbent upon you to use your own initiatives such as lobbying skills to get development from Non-Governmental Organizations for your communities and not to solely depend on the District Assembly Common Fund.”, Mr Zure advised.