“She has to employ such measures as are necessary towards fulfilling the mandate of the fund and particularly find a way to resolve the perennial delays that have characterised the operations of the releases of the fund,” he stressed.

 

Stressing the crucial role played by the DACF, the President was emphatic that its effective and efficient management was fundamental to the achievement of holistic national development.

 

DACF crucial to development

 

Speaking after swearing her in, President Akufo-Addo said one of the most important offices in the local government structure was that of the DACF Administrator.

 

The framers of the Constitution, he said, were very deliberate in providing, by law, for the setting aside of funds specifically for district assemblies for development.

 

“The wisdom of the architects of our Constitution is well structured; that is to say, an adherence to the bottom-up development approach. This approach places emphasis on the basic structures of our economy — the grass roots of our economy — with the belief that that will result in the total development of our country,” he reiterated.

 

The President’s insistence

 

The President said that was the approach used by the countries widely acclaimed as the Asian Tigers which resulted in the creation of considerable wealth and prosperity in those countries.

 

“This is the reason my government is insisting on the policies of ‘one-district, one-factory’, ‘one-village, one-dam’, ‘one million dollars per constituency’, ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ and many more,” he re-echoed.

 

President Akufo-Addo maintained that the surest way of achieving what the Asian Tigers achieved for themselves lay in the effective management and function of the DACF, which ought to be absolutely fundamental to the country’s development.

 

Strong woman with strong character

 

He described Ms Addo as a lady with a very strong character whose work he (the President) supervised then as Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister while she was the Deputy Ambassador to the United States.

 

Earlier, he said, Ms Addo had practised in his law firm under his tutelage, describing her as a very good young lawyer.

 

Between 2009 and 2017, the President recounted, she distinguished herself as a two-time Member of Parliament for Tema West, ending up as the First Deputy Chief Whip in Parliament.

 

“I am very confident that this new administrator of the DACF will bring her considerable experience towards the effective and efficient management of the fund, thereby contributing to the development of our economy and society,” he affirmed.

 

Ms Addo’s response

 

For her part, Ms Addo said she had a fair idea of the President’s vision and programmes and acknowledged the fact that the President’s yardstick was excellence.

 

“I can pledge today before everybody that I will bring out my very best and make sure that your policies and everything that you believe in are achieved,” she said.