Assemblies Urged To Seek Professional Advice Before Entering Into Public Private Partnership Agreements

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The Minister of State in charge of Public Private Partnership (PPP), Honorable Rashid Pelpuo, has urged Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to seek advice from the Public Investment Division (PID) of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) before entering into such agreements. The Minister explained that this was to ensure that the citizenry benefited from such arrangements, instead of allowing the initiative to be skewed to give advantage to only the private sector partners. He alluded that PPPs had evolved due to the dwindling resources as against competing demands from the various sectors of the economy. It was therefore imperative to extend a hand of partnership to the private sector to participate in the provision of infrastructure which hitherto was the sole responsibility of the Central Government.

The Hon. Minister made the call during a Three-Day Capacity Building Workshop organized to strengthen the capacity of MMDAs and RCCs in PPP arrangements at the Mensvic Grand Hotel in Accra between 8th and 11th September, 2015. He cautioned that the PPP arrangement was good for the growth of the economy; it could also bring challenges if not properly managed. He added that, Assemblies made sure the partnership would improve the livelihood of the people they served. The Minister further said consideration should also be given to the long term sustainability of such partnerships.

Participants included officers from the Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs), Metropolitan and selected Municipal Assemblies across the country.

In a closing remark, the Chief Director of the Local Government Service Secretariat (LGSS) Mr Joseph M. Dasanah expressed appreciation to the facilitators and participants. He further alluded that the programme had been worthwhile.

Additionally, a representative from the Public Investment Division of the Ministry of Finance also expressed appreciation to the Local Government Service Secretariat for the initiative. As part of the closing ceremony, the duo took turns to respond to various questions asked by the participants.