Hon. MCE engages the chiefs and people of the Ensonyame Community
As part of its mandate to promote and implement government policies at the local level, deliver quality public services, and improve social inclusion, the Municipal Chief Executive for Kwahu West Municipal Assembly, Hon. Yaw Owusu Addo and his entourage made up of key staff of the Assembly visited and organized a one-day community engagement programme on December 2, 2020 for people living in and around Ensonyameye and Kwadua communities.
The purpose of the programme was:
Interact with the chiefs and people to get firsthand information on the challenges they face and how best the Assembly can address them.
To sensitize the community members on women’s right in order to highlight the need to lease out land to women for farming making women economically sound
To check on the activities of the WATSAN for effective and efficient management of Water and Sanitation in the community
A total of 41 people participated in the programme and they included chiefs and elders, religious leaders, opinion leaders, the staff of the Kwahu West Municipal Assembly, and community members.
In a brief address, Hon. Odei Isaac, a Unit Committee Member for Ensonyameye welcomed everyone and thanked the Hon. MCE and the team for taking time off their busy schedules and commitments to honour them with such a programme. He admonished all participants to pay rapt attention and be doers of what they will learn and carry the good messages to their families and friends who for one reason or the other could not make it to the programme.
Hon. Yaw Owusu Addo, the Municipal Chief Executive for Kwahu West Municipal Assembly thanked the Chiefs and people of Ensonyameye and Kwadua communities for their warm reception. He highlighted the activities of the Assembly as well as the development plans for the respective communities and the entire municipality. He also talked about “women’s right” which he explained as the appropriation for a condition, purpose, occasion under which women can strive and attain an appreciable status in society. He again outlined the factors hindering the rights of women in our society;
i)Violence against woman; women all over the world face widespread violence, sexual harassment and abuse in many of the spaces that they find themselves ie. homes, workplaces, on the streets and on the public transport.
ii) Economic rights; community development advocates for decent jobs for women, fair taxes to reduce inequalities and to see a fairer division of unpaid care work.
iii) Women’s control over their bodies; women and girls are forced many times to endure harmful practices that cause them great suffering ie. stop female genital mutilation, early or forced marriage etc.
iv)Women having less access to Land; women have less access to land as a means to enable them to be engaged in farming activities. This will go a long way to help women farmers to become more successful and support the family financially after they have sold the proceeds of the farm.
Concluding his address he urged everyone to continue paying their taxes and join in communal labour whenever they are called upon to do so.
Mr. Sarpong Maxwell oriented the participants on the uses and management of Water and Sanitation as well as the importance of the Water and Sanitation (WATSAN) Committee. He called on the WATSAN Chairman and his team to render an account of their dealing with the bore-hole in the community. After going through their account books, Mr. Sarpong realized a few discrepancies in their books. He went ahead to advise the caretakers and the WATSAN committee members to do proper accounts so that their bore-hole can be fixed whenever it breaks down.
In an open forum, the Chiefs and people of the communities said their major challenges were lack of portable drinking water, poor sanitation and the illegal sand winning.
Madam Tiwaa called on the men and the elders in the community to release to women for farming.
In his Closing remarks, Hon. MCE said had noted their concerns with grave interest and assured them that the Management of the Assembly will take the necessary steps to ensure their challenges are addressed.
Mr. Maxwell Sarpong informed the participants that the programme was organized under the auspices of the Kwahu West Municipal Assembly led by the Municipal Chief Executive, Hon. Yaw Owusu Addo. He added that the Assembly is working very hard to bring needed development that would improve their living conditions. Thus, he called for their full support for Assembly’s on-going programmes and projects. Finally, he thanked the participant for coming in their numbers and their comportment and said the office of the community development is always open for future correspondence.