The Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, has cautioned assemblies in the region against corrupt practices as those caught will not be shielded.
“We will not shield those assemblies anymore. We will hand them over to the police, and there will be no excuses,” Dr Letsa said, adding that the inaction on the part of oversight bodies caused corrupt practices to spread across the assemblies.
He, therefore, called for a strong will to maintain ethical and professional standards.
Performance contract
Dr Letsa gave the caution at the opening of a performance contract signing durbar for the region.
He said the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC) would pursue what he called “criminal gangs and cartels” who were the scams of local assembly corruption.
“Whatever you are doing, you must remember that the day of reckoning will surely come. We don’t show interest in things that don’t bring money to our pockets.
They are only interested in the common fund so they can cook up contracts and award them to themselves. Money meant to build facilities are ending up in people’s pockets,” he stated
Dr Letsa called on heads of the assemblies to show strong leadership and endeavor to resist the forces of corruption lurking within the local government structure.
“We need strong leaders who are not compromised and polluted by the technocrats in the assembly. You must have the willpower to check corruption. Do what you have been given to do. If you are compromised for the first time, the whole four years is compromised,” he said.
Rot
Dr Letsa revealed some rot uncovered by the Regional Coordinating Council and detailed how an individual who was paid GH¢550,000 as a consultant by one of the assemblies turned out to be an illiterate barber.
“These things should not be happening. Once we do things like these, we are not serving our people. We are diverting money meant for the people into our own pockets. Why can’t we add some dignity and self-respect to our lives?” he asked.
He commended all departments working with the VRCC for their dedication to service, with exceptional commendation to the records department.
The Head of the Department of Human Resources of the VRCC, Mr Cyril Dzinyanu Xatse, commended the Office of the Head of the Local Government Service for instituting the Performance Management System regime.
He said it provided an “objective and unbiased” approach to performance measurement in the Service and further expressed gratitude to municipal and district assemblies in the region for making the conference a reality.
For his part, the acting Coordinating Director of the VRCC, Mr Prosper Afenyo, said punctuality remained a major impediment to local governance delivery.
GNA
