ASSEMBLY TO WAGE WAR ON REVENUE GENERATION (PAGE 35, MAY 17, 2010)

The Kpando District Assembly is to wage a total war on revenue mobilisation to ensure that the assembly stands on its feet.
All the leakage and loopholes which have affected revenue generation in the past will be tightly plugged so that any revenue collected will go where it should go.
The District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Francis Komla Ganyaglo, announced this in his sessional address at the first ordinary meeting of the assembly this year at Kpando.
Mr Ganyaglo noted with concern that as of the end of March, this year, the assembly had generated a gross revenue of GH¢10,570.700, constituting 20 per cent of the first quarter’s target.
The first step in this revenue mobilisation drive is to take over the collection of the Torkor market where “we have good evidence of pilfering, under invoicing and many others, to ensure the proper collection of tolls,” he said.
On education, the DCE suggested that some steps should be taken to halt the shrinking image of the district.
He called for stakeholder participation, including children, traditional rulers, religious bodies and parent-teacher associations in creating the proper environment for teaching and learning.
On infrastructural development, Mr Ganyaglo said the assembly was constructing six-unit classroom blocks for six communities under the school under tree projects and also connect the 11 remaining schools already wired to the national grid.
Mr Ganyaglo said the Kpando District Library would be refurbished and a new Information Communication Technology (ICT) centre constructed at the Bishop Herman College.
On security, the DCE expressed concern about the spate of chieftaincy disputes which are not only casting a slur on the image of the district, but also affecting development in the area.
He, therefore, appealed to those who wanted to use the noble chieftaincy institution to foment trouble to desist from that negative attitude.
In agriculture, Mr Ganyaglo said their quest to support the youth with farming inputs had been given a major boost with the introduction of three agricultural programmes in the district.
They are the youth in agricultural programme, ex-convicts rehabilitation project and the national afforestation programme.
The DCE appealed to the people to release land for the construction of an international workshop in the Kpando District which would serve the West African sub-region.
He was happy that the chief of Gbefi, Togbe Danku Yao V, had decided to release 12 acres at Gbefi for the project, adding that the people of Aveme had also agreed to release land for the ex-convicts rehabilitation project.
“Additionally, the Vakpo and Wusuta communities have also decided to release at least 50 acres of land each for the government’s afforestation project,” Mr Ganyaglo said.
The Presiding Member of the assembly, Mr Joseph Kudzo Adigbli, called on the members to pay special attention to the deliberations to ensure the success of the assembly’s work.
He called on the assembly members to pay particular attention to revenue collection in their electoral areas to promote development.