The Northern Regional Minister, Ali Adolf John, has cautioned public officials against reporting late to official assignments after temporarily locking out some Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) and other government officials who arrived late for an expanded Northern Regional Coordinating Council (NRCC) meeting in Tamale.

He said punctuality was a fundamental requirement of public service, warning that habitual lateness undermined discipline, delayed government business and projected a poor image of the public service.

Mr John also directed all public officials to adhere strictly to scheduled meeting times, stressing that future acts of lateness would not be tolerated.

Incident

The incident occurred at the Regional Coordinating Council Residency, where the expanded NRCC meeting, scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. last Thursday, saw some invited officials arriving almost an hour after the appointed time.

Participants in the meeting

By about 10:00 a.m., invited guests, including chiefs from Zangbalun in the Kumbungu District and Bakpaba in the Nanumba North Municipality, had already taken their seats when the minister ordered security personnel to close the entrance gate and deny latecomers access to the venue.

The affected officials, including MMDCEs, Coordinating Directors, Presiding Members and Heads of Departments and Agencies, were later admitted into the meeting after their lateness had been made evident to colleagues already seated inside.

The expanded NRCC meeting was convened to deliberate on key development challenges confronting the Northern Region and to consider practical strategies to accelerate development across the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).

Participants also received updates on major government initiatives, including the Big Push infrastructure programme, the 24-hour Model Markets initiative, regional security, and transformer replacement and upgrading projects.

The discussions focused on assessing implementation progress, identifying challenges and proposing practical measures to strengthen governance and improve service delivery.

The meeting brought together MMDCEs, Presiding Members, Coordinating Directors, officials of the Department of Urban Roads, representatives of development partners, the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) and other key stakeholders.

Steady progress

Addressing the meeting, Mr John expressed satisfaction with the steady progress of ongoing development projects across the region, describing the pace of implementation as encouraging and generally in line with expectations.

He said reports presented by the MMDCEs, based on inspections of project sites, showed that contractors were working diligently to complete projects within the stipulated timelines.

"The presentations by my MMDCEs show that projects across the various districts are progressing well, except in Nanumba North, where the people are not satisfied," he said.

Mr John said the successful completion of the projects would significantly enhance socio-economic development in the region through improved access to education, health care, roads and other essential public services.

He commended contractors, consultants and implementing agencies for their commitment and urged them to maintain high standards while adhering to agreed timelines.

The Northern Regional Coordinating Director, Sumaila Ewuntomah Abudu, commended the MMDCEs and other participants for their updates on the ongoing projects.