Madam Zubaida Damago, a Senior Development Planning Officer, speaking at the engagement, noted that the public hearing was on the municipality’s draft Medium Term Development Plan for the years 2026-2029, which is in line with the Development Planning System Act 1994 (Act 480) and the Local Governance Act 2016 (Act 936).

She said the Assembly presented the drafted Medium-Term Plan to stakeholders and the public to solicit feedback, inputs, and recommendations for improvement.
She emphasised that the public hearing was a vital platform to foster community ownership, encourage inclusive participation, and build consensus toward the successful implementation of the development plan.

It was also incorporating stakeholders’ inputs into the plan was essential to ensuring it truly reflects the needs and aspirations of the municipality.
She reiterated that the consultative processes undertaken by the assembly were designed to ensure that the very people for whom the plan was being developed have the opportunity to critique, shape, and ultimately take ownership of it.

Madam Damago noted also that the municipal assembly believed that inclusiveness was the cornerstone of sustainable development; therefore, the engagement was not only to fulfil the mandate of the act but also to give everyone the chance to participate and contribute to it.

She indicated that the review of the previous plan and the situational analysis from the four zonal councils within the municipality hinged on education, health, sanitation, and security.

The Planning Officer explained that by the end of the plan period, the assembly aims to construct and fully furnish health facilities, including laboratories in various communities, as well as build schools, 24-hour economy markets, and police stations, adding that the assembly also sought to improve access to potable water, sanitation, and security, among many other development priorities.

She also noted that the assembly was targeting the implementation of a total of 802 projects across the municipality, comprising 52 physical projects, 737 non-physical interventions, and 13 rollover projects from the previous year.
She added that the assembly was committed to implementing all the projects outlined in the plan and therefore called on stakeholders and residents across the municipality to lend their support.
She stressed that collective effort was essential to achieving the assembly’s development goals and improving the overall well-being of the municipality.

Mr Samuel Tetteh Kwarshie Morton, the Kpone-Katamanso Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), said that the Medium-Term Development Plan for the municipality would be submitted to the National Development Plan (NDP) for funds to be made available for the projects.

Mr Morton stated that there were some projects that could be done by the assembly without relying on the external funding sources, adding that the assembly would ensure that those within their reach would be done while the government would do the ones that need its attention.

He said that previously, the sector ministry was just the Ministry of Local Government, but now Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs have been added, allowing traditional rulers and religious leaders to be part of the community development.

He added that the assembly expects these leaders to also compensate their efforts and get the needs of the people in the various communities done.
He noted that the challenges raised by some people within the municipality include the high rate of social misconduct in some public institutions, explaining that the menace of drugs was gradually engulfing the communities, posing a real challenge to the assembly.

The MCE highlighted that the assembly has made some impact to tackle such challenges by organising workshops to educate the public while putting in measures to hand over such persons to the security personnel to help shape them.

He called on the religious and traditional leaders not to interfere with the work of the security personnel when such miscreants are being dealt with, stressing that it was the collective effort of the communities to empower the security agencies to help shape the community, cautioning that if not, the future of the municipality would be at stake.

He also mentioned that street naming and signage was another issue raised by the stakeholders, explaining that the government did not properly consult the traditional leaders in the municipality before putting in names for the Global Positioning System, leading to misleading addresses.

He called on the leaders and assembly members within the various areas in the municipality to come together to address such issues to create their desired municipality.