The Oti Regional Coordinating Council (ORCC) held its second Regional Coordinating Council meeting at its conference hall yesterday Wednesday December 13, 2023 to identify challenges of the Region that have not been solved and also find solutions to them before the end of 2023.
The Chief director of ORCC Mr. Issaka Braimah Basintale in his opening remarks told participants that, it was mandatory for all the members and heads of departments to be present unless they seek permission from Minister to be absent. Read More
He ended by urging all members and heads of departments to actively participate and contribute to interest and development of Oti Region.
The Oti Regional Minister Honourable Joshua Gmayenaam Makubu in his speech made reference to section 186 of the Local Government Act 936 of 2016 and article 255 of 1992 constitution which mandates all the RCCs to organize at least two ordinary meetings in a year and the responsibility of the House to ensure that the gains made from the creation of Oti Region is sustained.
With peace and security, the Honourable Joshua Gmayenaam Makubu called on all the participants, Civil Society Organisations, religious bodies, to get involved in their own ways to bring peace to Nkwanta and appealed to the feuding parties to bury their differences and promote peace. He urged all the traditional areas with land dispute to resort to legal procedures for amicable resolution.
With development partners, Honourable Minister briefed the House the NGOs that are currently in partnership with the Region to be Plan Ghana implementing water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programme in Jasikan Municipal, enrolment of Krachi East, Nkwanta South and Nkwanta North Districts of Oti Region onto United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) 8th country programme which is focused on maternal health and adolescent empowerment, Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion SOCO seeking to improve infrastructure development, Regional collaboration, socioeconomic and climate resilience of border-zone communities in the targeted regions Districts.
In Education, the Ghana Education Service office complex and Senior Staff bungalow have been reassigned to a new contractor due to delays and work is steadily progressing. He added that, BECE performance has been improved from 55.3% in 2020 to 65.1% in 2022 and WASSCE from 45.7% in 2020 to 66.6% in 2022.
According to Honourable Joshua Gmayenaam Makubu, the Senior Staff bungalow and office complex of the Health Directorate at Worawora have been completed and handed over to ORCC. He added that the Oti Region has only thirty-five (35) doctors which is woefully inadequate and ORCC will continue to champion the course of getting doctors posted to Oti.
With roads, the following are roads under reconstruction and rehabilitation. Jasikan to Worawora is slowly progressing and under City Construction, Jasikan to Dodi Pepesu under Sinohydro, Nkwanta to Dambai has vacated his site and ORCC is lobbying to get a new contractor, Nkwanta to Damanko was China Jianxi International Corporation and contractor has left site, Dambai town roads contractor has also left site and ORCC is working to bring him back to site and Krachi town roads by First Sky has been completed.
The Oti Regional Minister also lamented that, most of the government projects that have abandoned by contractors are for some politicians which they intentionally delay the project after taking the contract funds which makes it difficult for ORCC to follow up. He appealed that, government to awarding contracts to politicians of all the political divide.
Honourable Joshua Makubu made it clear that, or his three years in office, there has been no political dispute except land and Chieftaincy disputes. He there tasked the Regional House of Chiefs to investigate all the land and Chieftaincy disputes in Oti, report to Regional Security Council for resolution.
With judiciary, five (5) courts have been completed and commissioned by former chief justice.
With the Environmental health, Honourable Joshua Makubu lamented about work of zoomlion in Oti, the refuse disposal at the Regional capital and tasked the environmental health unit to provide him with a report on the work of zoomlion in Oti.
With water and sanitation according to Minister, RCC will collaborate with its development partners such as UNICEF, World Vision and Global Communities to implement Community Led-Total Sanitation (CLTS) and the WASH programmes in Oti Region.
He ended his address by tasking the House of Chiefs to address the matter of some traditional authorities hijacking markets and making it difficult for Assemblies to raise revenue or else the Oti Regional Coordinating Council will walk over any Chief who will hinder the revenue mobilization in the markets.