The NDC Constituency Organiser for Abirem, Frank Owusu Amoah, has accused the Birim North District Chief Executive (DCE), Hakeem Antwi Abdul, of sidelining party members during the rollout of the government’s Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme.
According to him, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, delegated officials to conduct community engagement and registration for the programme and expected the DCE to ensure that information reached all stakeholders.
Speaking on Adom FM’s morning show Dwaso Nsem, Mr Owusu Amoah alleged that the DCE failed to adequately communicate details of the registration exercise to party members and residents.
“The Minister delegated people to undertake community engagement and registration and expected the DCE to ensure the information reached everyone. Unfortunately, that did not happen,” he claimed.
Mr Owusu Amoah further alleged that tensions between the DCE and some party members date back to his appointment.
“Ever since he was nominated as DCE, some party members were not happy with the decision. However, once government approved him, we all accepted and supported him,” he said.
He claimed that despite this support, the DCE has consistently failed to involve party executives in key activities within the district.
“We believe the DCE thinks he owes nothing to the party. He has consistently sidelined party executives and failed to involve us in important decisions. We have complained about this on several occasions,” he alleged.
According to him, constituency executives had planned to meet the DCE to discuss their concerns and find a way forward but have been unable to do so.
“The constituency executives wanted to meet the DCE to resolve these issues, but the constituency chairman has not supported that move because he is perceived to be aligned with the DCE’s camp,” he claimed.
His comments follow Monday’s disruption of the launch of the Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme in the Birim North District.
Some aggrieved youth, believed to be supporters of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), attempted to block Lands and Natural Resources Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah and his entourage from launching the initiative.
The protesters, dressed in black with red armbands, accused party leaders and local stakeholders of excluding them from the planning and implementation process.
The situation was later brought under control following the intervention of police personnel and senior party officials.
The Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme is being implemented by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources as part of efforts to formalise small-scale mining, promote responsible mining practices and create sustainable employment opportunities in mining communities.
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