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The Okyenhene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin, has stated that Community Development (CD) is derived from mutual benefits and shared responsibility among community members.

“Such development recognises the connection between effective community development and the connection between social, cultural environmental and economic matters, the diversity of interests within a community and its relationship to build capacity,” he added.

The Okyenhene made these remarks at the second day of the fourth World Summit of Mayors and Leaders of African Descent on the topic ‘The role of the Mayor in community development.’

According to him, community development helps to build community capacity in order to address issues and take advantage of opportunities, find common grounds and balance competing interests. He noted that these things do not just happen, but it requires both a conscious and a conscientious effort to do something (or many things) to improve the community.

In his explanation, he held that community development exists as a well-defined process and structured intervention designed to make the community a better place to live and work.

“As mayors and city leaders, you are better placed to carry out this change with your offices,” he said.

However, he was quick to note that though community development is a tool for managing change, it is not a quick fix or a short-term response to a specific problem within a community.

“It is also not a process that seeks to exclude community members from participating neither is it an initiative that occurs in isolation from other related community activities,” he pointed out.

Touching on the principles of community development, the Okyenhene stressed that CD is a process that empowers and enables those who are traditionally deprived of power and control over their common affairs.

Speaking on the roles of mayors, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin stated that mayors must first have a clear vision of what they can and want to accomplish.

“You must also have accurate assessment of your assets, strengths and limitations and plan accordingly,” he told.

He appealed to mayors and city leaders to strive as much as possible to include every group in the community, stating that a socially inclusive community is one in which all members feel valued and fully participate in the life of the community.

“Setbacks of most communities border on groups that feel or have no sense of belonging and being in the minority, hence they do not work in sync with the community,” he said.