WELCOME ADDRESS:
The Municipal Planning Officer, Mr. Henry Daniels who stood in for the Chairperson (MCD) at the beginning of the session welcomed all members to the second quarter meeting of the Municipal Planning Co-Ordinating Unit (MPCU) meeting. He outlined the main agenda for the meeting being the presentation and discussion of mid-year review of the 2025 Composite Annual Action Plan, discussion and prioritization of the community needs from the community needs assessment
READING, CORRECTION AND ADOPTION OF PREVIOUS MINUTES
Members took time to read through the previous minutes for corrections and omissions. After a thorough reading, there were no corrections made.
Mr. Daniel Nana Appiah of NETCODA moved a motion for the acceptance and adoption of the previous minutes as a working document of the MPCU. The motion was seconded by Miss Nora Oyelowo, the Municipal Statistician.
MATTERS ARISING OUT OF THE PREVIOUS MINUTES
The MPCU secretariat compiled the various unit and departmental reports in to the Assembly’s quarterly progress report for onward submission to relevant stakeholders. However, most did not submit their reports on time while others did not submit at all.
BUSINESS OF THE DAY
PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF 2025 MID-YEAR COMPOSITE ANNUAL ACTION PLAN
The Municipal Development Planning Officer, Mr. Henry Daniels led the presentation on the mid-year review of the 2025 Composite Annual Action Plan.
He said the 2025 Composite Annual Action Plan prior to its review had One Hundred and Eighteen (118) programs and projects. These plans, he said covered six broad development dimensions. The Economic Development Dimension with the goal to build a prosperous, inclusive and resilient economy had 18 plans, the Social Development Dimension aimed at creating an equitable, healthy and prosperous society had 26 and the Built and Natural Environment Dimension had 34 plans earmarked for implementation. Furthermore, the Governance Dimension with focus on building effective, efficient and dynamic institutions had 21 plans. Least among them were the Emergency Preparedness and Resilience and Implementation, Coordination and Monitoring and Evaluation (ICME) with 10 and 9 plans respectively.
He read through all the programs and projects for the respective lead implementing unit and departmental heads to comment on whether to maintain such activities or otherwise remove them due to their implementation timelines or budget constraints.
After a thorough discussion of the plans presented, the following programs/projects were removed from the 2025 Composite Annual Action Plan.
- Provide scholarship for needy but brilliant students
- Construction of1 No. 3unit classroom block with ancillary facilities at Mereponso
- Rehabilitation of CHPS and compound & construction of 2 no. 1 bedroom apartment at Takyiman
- Construction of 2No. Disability friendly 3-unit KVIP Latrine with changing Room for girls fitted with hand washing facilities at Shai-Ologo Ma Kg & Prim. and Subriso M/A JHS
- Construction of retaining wall and storm drain both in Kade
- Construction of 1no. Fire Service Station at Kade
- Construction of 1 storey 3no. 20unit lockable stores at Kade
- Fencing and paving of Administration block
- Re-Construction of Municipal Administration Office Roof Structure
- Capacity Building of Staff in Records Management
- Training of Staff in Public Financial Management
A number of new projects were added to the 2025 AAP largely due to revisions in the allocation of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) and the preparation of a supplementary budget to the effect. The projects however included some abandoned or legacy projects which are earmarked for completion. They include:
- Construction and furnishing of 1 No. CHPS Compound at Kade Abaase
- Construction and furnishing of 1 No. CHPS Compound at James Town
- Construction and of 1 No. maternity ward at Takyiman
- Design and construct 24-hour economic market at Kade
- Construction and furnishing of 1 No. 6 unit classroom block at Akinkaase
- Construction and furnishing of 1 No. 3 unit classroom block at Mempeasem
- Construction and furnishing of 1 No. 2-unit KG block with office and store at Kade MA 2
- Drilling and construction of 1 No. Mechanized Borehole average depth 30-45 meters including reinforced concrete stand 2m x 2m x 3.5m high with 4500 liters capacity overhead PVC tank at 20 communities
- Completion of the education office at Kade
- Completion of 1 No. WC toilet at Okyinso
- Completion of 1 No. office accommodation at Kade (phase one)
- Completion of Kade police station
- Refurbishment of Asuom ICT centre
- Completion of 1 No. court at Kade
- Completion of Education Director’s bungalow
- Completion of Kade football park
PRESENTATION ON THE NEEDS ASSESSMENT AND DRAFT 2026-2029 MEDIUM-TERM DEVELOPMENT PLAN
The MPO again led the house in presenting on the findings from the Community Needs Assessment as part of the several processes leading to the preparation of the 2026-2029 District Medium-Term Development Plan.
The exercise was organized by the MPCU led by the Municipal Development Planning Officer, Mr. Henry Daniels, other members of the MPCU and the MTDP planning committees, the Presiding Member (PM), the Chairman of the Development Planning Sub-committee and all Assembly members who joined the team at their respective zones and or electoral areas. The Municipal Chief Executive and Coordinating Director also met the team at some of the zones to give their opening addresses and support for the entire program. The needs assessment was carried out from Monday 21st to Monday 28th July, 2025.
He said the community needs assessment was carried out in ten zones of the 39 electoral areas within the Municipality. A total of three hundred and sixty-eight (368) constituents made up Chiefs, Religious and Opinion Leaders, Political Party representatives, Civil Society Groups, Disability Groups, Traders, Artisans, Farmers, Assembly and Unit Committee members etc. were interacted with.
The objectives of the assessment were to ensure a participatory approach in the 2026-2029 MTDP preparation as required by law, solicit the developmental needs of the various communities, identify gaps in development, prioritize the identified needs and help in equitable allocation of the limited resources of the Assembly for a sustainable and inclusive development.
The MPO took members of the MPCU thoroughly through all the various community needs (ref. to report on the Community Needs Assessment) identified and prioritized for the discussion of members. It was agreed that all community needs that ranked first, second, third, fourth etc. be prioritized for the first to the fourth year of the planning cycle respectively.
He finally urged members to submit their respective medium-term plans to be incorporated in to the composite 2026-2029 MTDP.
Discussions from the presentation:
The MCE asked the MPCU to make provisions for the construction of a market at Adankrono though such a project was not among their needs. He again urged the MPCU to broaden the MTDP to include a lot of programs and projects since programs that fall outside the scope of the plan may not be considered for implementation.
The Municipal Works Engineer also added that though such programs or projects may not be considered for implementation, in the event of emergencies, the Assembly has to attend to such eventualities.
Mr. Daniel N. Appiah said one of the major challenges of the community needs assessment over the years has been the lack of active community participation.
He further urged that the right approach should be used in acquisition and proper documentation of lands for projects in other to mitigate litigations during and after projects implementations.
The Municipal Information Officer, Mr. Abrokwah Boateng suggested that apart from the compensations (which is usually inadequate) there is the need to give a percentage in terms of project ownership to help induce community participation.
The Municipal Coordinating Director in contributing to the discussion thanked members for their active participation and involvement in the planning process. She said a constant interaction with the communities will strengthen the partnership, participation and ownership to help the Assembly meet the numerous needs of the electorates. All members took turns to actively contribute to the presentation and on how best to bring development to the door steps of the communities through effective and efficient planning and implementation.
After a fruitful discussion, the MPO moved for the adoption of the reviewed 2025 Annual Action Plan and the Draft 2026-2029 Medium-Term Development Plan. The motion was seconded by the Municipal Information Officer.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
The Municipal Development Planning Officer, urged members who had not yet submitted their second quarter reports to do so on time to help the MPCU secretariat prepare and submit the Assembly’s second quarter progress report to the relevant stakeholders.
He again emphasized on the submission of unit and departmental 2026-2029 plans for incorporation into the MTDP.