Jerry Ahmed Shaib, the Second Deputy Minority Whip and Member of Parliament (MP) for the Weija-Gbawe Constituency, has disclosed a significant lapse in inter-agency communication, alleging that the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Felix Odartey Lamptey, failed to notify him upon receiving the Constituency Common Fund.
The MP stated that he was only made aware of the disbursement when the MCE appeared before Parliament’s Local Government and Rural Development Committee.
Mr. Shaib made the revelation during an interview on the Frontline program on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM with host Kwabena Agyapong. He noted that the MCE has not demonstrated the necessary commitment to fostering a collaborative working relationship.
He elaborated on the scale of the oversight, detailing his shock upon discovery: “The MCE had received Ghc16.5 million in Common Fund and yet, he refused to inform me. I only got to know about this when he appeared before the Local Government Committee. I was shocked and asked why he did that? As the MP, I had no idea he had received such an amount of money in Common Fund.”
The MP stressed the necessity for the MCE to adopt a working mindset and set aside political considerations to jointly pursue the transformation of the constituency.
He argued that with this substantial amount received, the various electoral areas must receive their fair share of resources allocated for beneficial projects.
To illustrate the potential impact, he proposed a model for equitable distribution: “Let’s divide the electoral areas into 14, even if we share a million each for them, we can have excess funds to pursue other projects in the constituency.”
Mr. Shaib stressed that all constituency projects are funded by state resources, not the personal finances of either the MCE or the MP. He underlined the critical need for collaboration to ensure the constituents benefit.
”We have to collaborate so that the good and virtuous people of Weija-Gbawe would benefit. You don’t need to be my friend, brother. All you need to have is a working mindset for us to collaborate and ensure we bring development to the people,” he asserted.
He said some of the major challenges confronting them were issues of roads and gutters, and if the two of them could work together, they could address these issues in the area.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana