Take advantage of the refresher programme to discuss your experiences

Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, the Volta Regional Minister, has urged Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), to take advantage of the refresher programme to discuss their experiences with experts in the local governance space for effective and efficient performance.

He noted that when MMDCEs discussed their experiences, it would offer them the space to sharpen and broaden their horizons on how to function amid the enormous responsibilities.

“The strategic role of MMDCEs and the enormous responsibilities placed on them require them to exude and exhibit high-level aptitude, which could only be achieved over a period of time through experiential learning.”

Dr Letsa, speaking in Ho during a three-day Zonal Refresher Course on Leadership and Management Training for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), said the course would provide the MMDCEs platform to seek clarification and enrich themselves.

“This is an opportunity for you as MMDCEs to seek clarifications on all lingering issues bothering your minds after being in office for these few months and to share experiences to enrich your understanding of the practice and roles of various actors in our local governance, decentralization and its legal and regulatory framework.”

The refresher programme was for MMDCEs from Greater Accra, Volta and Oti Regions and organised by the Ministry in collaboration with the Institute of Local Government Studies.

Dr Letsa noted that with the investments in the MMDCEs, it was expected that there would be “no excuses to justify any low performance” and that there would be a reduction in audit infractions.

Mr Dan Botwe, Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, said the programme was to provide an avenue for the MMDCEs to share experiences with resource persons and policymakers to enable them to re-strategise and find practical approaches to solving local developmental challenges.

He said the MMDCEs’ success in office would largely depend on how well they were able to discharge their functions stipulated in the Constitution, adding that “your ability to perform your functions creditably calls for innovation and thinking outside the box.”

Mr Botwe said the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS) was being retooled and revamped to be able to provide structured training to all categories of local government functionaries and staff.

“This has been envisaged in the establishment law, the Institute of Local Government Studies Act, 2 003 (Act 647). Various executive courses are being designed by the Institute to expand your capability to lead, inspire, and achieve.”