The Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, has called on Ghanaians to ignore the lies being peddled by detractors of the government about the pace of its development agenda. He said it was not true that the government was slow in the implementation of its development agenda, saying the achievements of the government since it took office were there for all to see. Mr Afriyie-Ankrah made the call when he addressed the Third Ordinary Meeting of the Second General Session of the Akatsi District Assembly at Akatsi in the Volta Region. "I challenge our detractors to come clean, since a government which has been able to reduce inflation from 18 percent it inherited to 9.5 per cent and brought budget deficit from 22 per cent to 14 per cent in less than two years cannot be tagged as slow," he said. He said the Cedi had been stabilised while about 1,000 school blocks had been constructed to accommodate schools which previously held classes under trees. Mr Afriyie-Ankrah said about 430 buildings were also being constructed for senior high schools across the country in addition to the government’s bold decision to implement the Single Spine Salary Structure. He said the government was on course and after four years, Ghanaians would judge for themselves the achievements of the government. The deputy minister added that the STX deal, which was ratified by Parliament recently, would also reduce the current housing deficit and provide decent accommodation for the security services and civil servants. Mr Afriyie-Ankrah asked district assemblies to ensure judicious use of monies transferred to them for development projects. He explained that it had come to the notice of the ministry that most assemblies were misapplying funds transferred to them under the District Development Fund (DDF), and cautioned such districts against misapplication and mismanagement. The deputy minister commended the Akatsi District Assembly for its achievements, and stated that the numerous projects being implemented in' the area attested to the fact that the "Better Ghana Agenda" was on course. Addressing the meeting, the District Chief Executive, Mr Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, said even though the assembly owed contractors as much as GH¢400,000 when he took over, 60 per cent of the debt had been settled. He commended staff of the assembly for working hard for the district to qualify again for District Development Fund (DDF) and disclosed that a total of GH¢475,000 would thus be given to the assembly for development projects. The DCE expressed worry about the inadequacy of teachers, and gave an assurance that the assembly would not relent in its efforts to sponsor teacher trainees to fill vacancies in the area. Mr Nortsu-Kotoe appealed to citizens in the area to guard against the over-politicisation of issues, explaining that giving political meanings to every activity of the assembly would not ensure rapid development. Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana