FULL TEXT: Opening Remarks by Hon. Dr. MICHAEL MENSAH, the Municipal Chief Executive of Ayawaso West Municipal Assembly at maiden edition of the ‘STAKEHOLDERS FORUM’ for the Residents and Business Community under the theme, “For Inclusive Development at Ayawaso West”
The event was held at the Premier Best Western Hotel, Airport Residential Area, Accra, Ghana
Yemmey News presents the MCE’s full speech below….
The Hon Minister, Local Government Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, – Hon Osman Ayariga
The Hon. Regional Minister – Hon. Linda Ocloo
The Hon. MP and Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture -Hon. John Setor Dumelo
The Head of Local Government Service – Prof. Lord Mensah
The Chief Director, Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs
The Chief Director, Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council
Revered Traditional and Religious Leaders
The CEOs Present
Distinguished Businessmen and Women Present
The Former MP, Ayawaso West
The Former MCE, Ayawaso West
The MMDCEs Present
Hon. Assembly Members
Heads of Departments and Agencies
Representative of the Private Sector and Civil Society Organization
Development Partners
Distinguished Guests,
Friends from the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good morning, and a very warm welcome to you all.
It is a great pleasure and privilege to have you here today for this important Stakeholders Forum of the Ayawaso West Municipality.
I would like to begin by expressing my sincere appreciation to each and every one of you for making time to participate in this engagement. Your presence here is significant because the development of Ayawaso West cannot be achieved by the Municipal Assembly alone. It requires the ideas, expertise, resources, commitment, and partnership of everyone who lives, works, invests, and operates within our Municipality.
Our theme for today’s forum, “One Municipality, Shared Responsibility: Mobilizing Stakeholders for Inclusive Development in Ayawaso West,” captures a fundamental principle that should guide the development of our Municipality.
Today is therefore not simply a meeting. It is an opportunity to listen, engage, and build a stronger partnership between the Municipality, our residents, and the business community. Ayawaso West is a unique municipality. We are home to some of the most vibrant residential communities, commercial establishments, professional institutions and businesses in the Greater Accra Region. We have residents with diverse expertise and experience, as well as businesses that contribute significantly to employment, investment, innovation and economic activity.
These opportunities, however, come with responsibilities and challenges. We must continue to address issues relating to sanitation, drainage, traffic management, security, environmental management, physical development, road infrastructure, waste management and the general quality of life of our residents. At the same time, we must create an environment in which businesses can operate efficiently, expand their investments and contribute meaningfully to local development.
As a Municipal Assembly, we recognize that the private sector and our residents are not merely beneficiaries of municipal development; they are important partners in delivering it.
This is why we have deliberately brought together this group of stakeholders.
We want to hear from you.
We want to understand your concerns, your expectations, and the opportunities you see within Ayawaso West. We also want to share the Assembly’s development priorities and explore practical ways we can work together.
For our business community, our objective is to strengthen the relationship between businesses and the Municipality. We want to understand what businesses require from the Assembly to operate and grow, while also exploring how businesses can support initiatives that improve the Municipality.
For our residents, particularly those living in our middle- and upper-income communities, we recognise that you have important expectations regarding the quality of infrastructure, sanitation, security, environmental cleanliness, traffic management and overall municipal services. Your voices are therefore essential in helping us identify areas that require attention and develop practical solutions.
Our vision must be an Ayawaso West where residents are proud to live, businesses are confident to invest, professionals are willing to contribute their expertise, and development is guided by partnership and shared responsibility.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Assembly cannot do everything alone, and government cannot be the only source of solutions. There is considerable knowledge, experience, technology, financial capacity and professional expertise within this room. If we bring these resources together in a structured, constructive way, we can achieve far more than any institution or individual can alone.
I therefore encourage everyone to participate openly in today’s discussions. Let us move beyond identifying problems and focus equally on solutions, partnerships and concrete actions.
Where challenges exist between businesses and the Assembly, let us discuss them frankly. Where there are opportunities for collaboration, let us identify them. Where residents have ideas that can improve our communities, let us put them on the table.
By the end of this engagement, I want us to leave not only with a better understanding of one another, but with clear areas of collaboration and practical commitments that can translate into visible improvements across Ayawaso West.
I also wish to assure you that the Municipal Assembly remains committed to engaging stakeholders regularly. Development is a continuous process, and meaningful engagement must be continuous as well.
Let us build a Municipality where government and citizens work together, where businesses and the Assembly grow together, and where development creates value for everyone.
As we often say, the prosperity of Ayawaso West is a shared responsibility.
I thank you once again for accepting our invitation and for your commitment to the development of our Municipality.
I look forward to a very productive and engaging discussion.
It is my honour and pleasure to officially welcome you to this Stakeholders Forum.
Thank you very much, and may God bless you all.
Long live Ayawaso West Municipality.
Long live Ghana.
Thank you.
