The LA Dadekotopon Assembly (LADMA) has launched activities to mark two-year anniversary of its creation.

Speaking at the launch of the anniversary, the Municipal Chief Executive, Rita Odoley Sowah saw decentralization as the best means of bringing development to the doorsteps of the people. She therefore assured resident “for me it is my vision, that the people should have the development they need.”

The municipality is growing and has had its share of challenges within its two years of existence. The MCE mentioned lack of awareness of its existence as one of the major challenges. She said information gathered by the Assembly indicates that a sizeable number of people either residing or doing business in the municipality still have the perception that the area is under the Accra Metropolitan Assembly.

Interestingly, employees of the Assembly, she conceded, are not sure of the exact boundaries to facilitate effective and efficient modus operandi of the municipal assembly. 

As result they are faced with leakages in revenue collection, needless disputes which discourage clients from making payments, reduction in funds released to the assembly especially the district assembly development common fund, persistent pressure on LADMA to meet the increasing needs of residents and stakeholders, inadequate data base on property owners and development projects and programs, poor communication between the people and the assembly.

In that regard, the anniversary which was launched last week in June, seeks to create awareness about the existence and operation of LADMA. It lined up a number of activities to commemorate the anniversary which ran from 26^th of June to the 1^st of July.

The Assembly distributed fliers to educate and inform the general public about the various services the Assembly renders, to let people know the various locations of the assembly’s offices, to define and describe the assembly’s area of authority as enshrined in the various legal statutes establishing LADMA, to educate stakeholders on the various funding, arrangements in place and how much funds is being used in terms of execution of project and programs in the municipality.

Rita Odoley Sowah also mentioned poor sanitation as a challenge the municipality is working on.

Nonetheless, “I believe that come December LADMA will be one of the cleanest municipalities in Ghana.”

Rita Odoley Sowah charged her people to come on board to develop LADMA.

“Let’s do the right thing. Let’s be law abiding. Let’s seek for building permits before we build and also desist from things that will not make the municipality move forward.”

“We are either part of the problem or part of the solution”, she concluded.