Obrempong Appiah Nuamah II, a Member of the Council of State and Omanhen of Twifo Traditional Area, said issues pertaining to local development affected all and they must be handled with passion irrespective of which government was in power.

The Member of Council of State gave the advice at a Town Hall Meeting at Twifo-Praso in the Twifo Attimokwa District. The meeting was to ensure transparency, accountability and understanding of governance policies and programmes to accelerate equitable distribution of national resources.

It was organised by the Ministry of Information and the Information Services Department, in collaboration with the District Assembly to set the records straight on government policies and programmes, address concerns and clear any ambiguity in the minds of the people.

Obrempong Nuamah expressed concern about the negative impact of unhealthy party politics at the local level on many developmental projects, which also created divisions and enmity among the people.

He said: "As agents of development in your localities, you must prioritise development as your topmost concern and eschew all forms of partisan discussions and colouration of government's projects and policies”.

“The ultimate aim of going to the Assemblies was to serve Ghana and not any political party.

"You must desist from the practice of doing the bidding of your political parties and rededicate yourselves to national efforts at eradicating poverty and creating wealth for all."  Obrempong Nuamah, who chaired the function, implored assembly members to be creative and device innovative strategies to attract and retain investment in their electoral areas to generate employment for the youth.

He said they must regularly meet their constituents and educate them on key national issues and the need to support and pay taxes to finance projects.  Obrempong Nuamah urged them to strictly abide by Section 16 of the Local Government Act, 1993, Act 462, which enjoins assembly members to always consult their people before every assembly session and also give feedback afterwards.

He said experiences had shown that most assembly members did not do this, hence denying their constituents of very important information on government policies and programmes, limiting them from participating in governance.

He said all assembly members must note that democracy was consolidated and nourished by contributions of a well-informed populace and indicated that it was important that they promoted information sharing among their constituents.

Mr Kofi Dei, the Central Regional Director of Information Services Department, said it was important for state officials and assembly members to regularly meet their people to discuss matters that affected their well-being.