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Mr Samuel Sarpong, Ashanti Regional Minister, has asked Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to see the performance ratings as an “urge-on initiative” to deliver quality services to the people.

He said the District League Table (DLT) project, introduced by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) Ghana and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to compare performances of all the 216 assemblies, presented a unique opportunity for all stakeholders to discuss the status of the assembly and take steps to address identified challenges.

Mr. Sarpong, who was speaking at the Ashanti Regional launch of the DLT in Kumasi, applauded the two organizations for promoting social accountability at the local level.

Offinso Municipal Assembly was ranked first among the 30 MMDAs, as the best performing, in terms of improvement in the areas of education, health, sanitation, security, water and governance.

It was followed by Kwabre East and the Atwima-Kwanwoma districts while the Sekyere Afram Plains was listed as the least performing in the region.

Eight Ashanti MMDAs were also ranked among the first 20 best performers nationwide.

The aim of the DLT, according to CDD, is to support government to better understand and monitor developments across the country while helping to provide citizens’ access to information and knowledge about their right to development in their district.

Mr Sarpong noted that the assemblies were important to the effective implementation of the decentralization policy.
They are mandated to serve as agents and lead the implementation of development projects to transform the lives of the people.

Mr. Sarpong said the mandate placed a huge responsibility on the managers of the MMDAs to work hard together with the assembly members, traditional rulers, opinion leaders, workers and all key stakeholders, to improve the living conditions of the people.

Nana Hagan, Resource Mobilization and Public Affairs Officer of CDD-Ghana, said the goal of the DLT project, was to support and deepen social accountability, and by so doing, generate governmental responsiveness at both the national and local level.

Mr. Charles Dzradosi, UNICEF representative said the DLT was not meant to rate the performance of District Chief Executives (DCE) but to help identify development challenges confronting the people in local communities.