North West: Local dev’t ministry lectures council authorities on Decentralisation Law.

It was organised by the Ministry of Decentralisation and Local Development, MINDDEVEL, in partnership with the National School of Local Administration, NASLA.

It was Dr James Wung, the Director of Human Resource for Regional and Local Authority at MINDDEVEL who chaired the workshop in the presence of the North West Regional Delegate of MINDDEVEL, Cho Ngu Ernest.

During the three-day event, the council executives drawn from all seven divisions of the North West Region were educated on what the 15% of resource allocation to councils is all about, as per by the General Code of Regional and Local Authorities,

Speaking during the opening session Wednesday, the Representative of the Minister of MINDDEVEL, Dr James Wung, regretted the fact that the training was coming behind schedule.

"It is a long awaited occasion, because as the General Code of Regional and Local Authorities states, once mayors are elected into office, they are entitled to initial training so that they can perform their duties. We had a little delay, but we are happy they will be obtaining the skills from today," Dr Wung said.

While commenting on the issue raised by some mayors with regards to the 15% quota of state budget being insufficient, Cho Ngu Ernest, said the government has been giving more than the mentioned amount.

"It is not a slow transfer, it is a matter of interpretation. If you get interest in what the state gives to regional and local authorities, it is far more than 15%," Cho said.

The regional and local authorities were also schooled on the management of basis services, decentralised cooperation, inter-council collaboration and partnership, the organization and functioning of councils, human resource management and others.