The Hon. Presiding Member, Hon. Edward Seke called the meeting to order at exactly 10:00am which was followed by an opening prayer by Hon. Mac-Thompson Gbeti.
In his opening remarks, the Hon. Presiding Member welcomed Hon. Members and staff present to the Second (2nd) Ordinary Meeting of the Assembly and expressed his appreciation to Hon. Members for their punctuality. He urged them to discuss the issues dispassionately so as to come out with workable resolutions for subsequent implementation.
He indicated that the meeting was being held to apprise the House on the state of the Municipality as well as developments that had taken place after the last meeting. Specifically, he highlighted the main businesses of the meeting as:
- Discussion of Hon. Municipal Chief Executive’s Address.
- Presentation/deliberation on the Auditor General’s Report for 2023
- Consideration of draft Agreement between the Assembly and Cattle Kraal Owners Association in the Municipality.
He also informed the House of the absence of the Hon. Member of Parliament for the Ketu North Constituency, Hon. Dr. James Klutse Avedzi.
He seized the opportunity to inform the House about the ill health of the Hon. Member of Penyi – Hattah/ Town Council Electoral Area, Hon. Clemence Ahiadzonu. He appealed to them to remember him in prayer while concluding by wishing all Members a fruitful deliberation and urged them to participate actively in order to make the meeting a success.
The Municipal Coordinating Director also presented the Auditor General’s Report for 2023 to the House for discussion. In his presentation, the Municipal Coordinating Director said that the Assembly was cited for ‘Sanitation Management Irregularities’ and that the report indicated Management’s failure to notify Zoomlion to replace one (1) broken skipper truck and six (6) damaged skip containers.
He indicated further that the Zoomlion Company had refused to provide fourteen (14) skip containers required as a Municipality after several letters written to them and several visits to the headquarters of the company. He said, the Municipality currently has only seven (7) skip containers which were woefully inadequate.
Upon thorough deliberation on the above, Hon. Samuel Amable moved for the termination of the Assembly’s contract with the Zoomlion Company which would expire in November, 2024 and was seconded by Hon. Azigi David Wilson and was unanimously upheld.
Addressing the meeting on the draft agreement between the Assembly and herds/cattle kraal owners association, the Chairman of the Justice and Security Sub-Committee, Hon. Godsway Torgbenu said that the draft agreement was between the cattle kraal owners in the Ketu North Municipality and the Ketu North Municipal Assembly.
He highlighted the content of the document as containing a Zonal Level Dispute Resolution Committee which would be responsible for the resolution of conflicts between cattle owners and farmers arising out of the destruction of crops by herds/cattle.
In the absence of further suggestions, Hon. Paul Atsu Avuglah moved for the acceptance of the draft agreement as a working document of the Assembly to regulate the activities of Fulani Herdsmen/Cattle Kraal Owners Association and farmers in the Municipality which was seconded by Hon. Mac-Thompson Gbeti and was carried.
Further, in his presentation, Revenue Officer (RO) Wambala Bruce Adeklu from the Ghana Revenue Authority Division, Akanu Border informed the House that robust mechanisms had been instituted to curb the smuggling of items being transported through unapproved routes into the country. He informed the House that patrol activities along these unapproved routes were on-going to check the practice. He promised to brief the House on the revenue contribution of the Akanu Border to the national revenue target at the next Assembly meeting.
Mr. Christopher Kamepetimge, the Municipal Disease Control Officer informed Members about an upcoming measle vaccination campaign scheduled for Wednesday 2nd to Sunday 6th October, 2024 for all children between the ages of 9 – 59 months (below 5 years). He urged Hon. Members to disseminate the information to their respective electorates to ensure the achievement of the Municipal target.
In his brief closing remarks, the Hon. Presiding Member thanked Hon. Members for their active participation and resourceful contributions towards a successful meeting. He also expressed his profound gratitude to Management and staff of the Assembly for their continuous support and guidance in the course of the discharge of their duties as Members of the House.