Ghanaians urged to be disciplined at all times

Mr Okofo Boadi, Birim Central Municipal Coordinating Director, on Wednesday expressed worry about the lack of discipline among a section of Ghanaians and urged all to change for the better. Speaking at a validation workshop for the Municipal African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Monitoring and Evaluation Report at Akyem Oda, he appealed to Ghanaians to be disciplined to enable the Government to score more points in the Peer Review Mechanism. Mr Boadi said "Our actions or inactions could affect the government in its rating," and urged that all should play their role effectively towards building a strong and united nation. He said good governance was necessary for the growth of any nation and advised Ghanaians to guard against trampling on the rights of others. Mr Boadi challenged departmental heads to work hard to promote peace in the municipality. Dr Francis Appiah, Executive Secretary, Governing Council, APRM, reminded members of the Municipal Oversight Committee that the APRM concept was non-partisan and that during their discussions they should focus on what would move the area forward. He said nation building was a shared responsibility and advised all to play their part effectively. Dr Appiah commended the oversight committee on their high performance so far and urged them to sustain it so that the municipality would be a real model to others. Ms Margaret Konama, Birim Central Municipal Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), said since the inauguration of the oversight committee in 2007, it had been holding series of sensitization workshops in the communities to educate the people on the activities of the APRM. She said the committee went to the churches to sensitize the congregation and also collate data. Mr Ernest Opare, Birim Central Chairperson of the oversight committee, later presented a draft APRM Monitoring and Evaluation Report on the findings of a data collection exercise which was structured into seven main chapters. Mr William Quaitoo, Presiding Member of the Birim Central Municipal Assembly, who chaired the function, stressed the need for the promotion of good governance at all times. He said that would encourage investors to invest in the country thereby opening up more job opportunities while donor agencies would also "pump" more money into the economy.