SERVICES

The WAWMA is the highest political and administrative authority in the municipal. It is made up of twenty seven (27) members of which nineteen (19) are elected by universal adult suffrage and eight (8) are appointed by the President in consultation with the traditional authorities and other interest groups in the municipal.

Composition of the Assembly

In accordance with provisions in the local Governance Act, Act 936 of 2016, the WAWMA is composed of:

· the Municipal Chief Executive;

· one person from each electoral area within the district elected by universal adult suffrage in accordance with regulations made for the purpose by the Electoral Commission. There are 19 electoral areas in the Municipal.

· the member of Parliament of the Amenfi West Constituency

· other members not exceeding thirty per cent of the total membership of the Municipal Assembly appointed by the President in consultation with the traditional authorities and other interest groups in the Municipal.

· The Municipal Co-ordinating Director is the Secretary to the Municipal Assembly.

Sub-structures of the Assembly

The Sub-Structures exist to deepening the decentralization process thereby strengthening the participation of the people in governance process. The Sub-structures consist of Three Zonal Councils namely Asankrangwa, Breman and Samreboi as shown in figure 1.15.

The Unit Committees are the base structures of the decentralization system with the responsibility of mobilizing community members for local development. Out of the 19 Unit Committees, 18 are in place with total number of 90 members (thus 5 members per Unit).

In general, although the Sub-structures have been inaugurated, however, they are not functioning the way they should, due to inadequate support for their activities, logistical challenges among others. The ineffectiveness of the Sub-structures deprives the Assembly of the needed Internally Generated Funds for the implementation of programmes/projects. Within the Planning period (2018-2021), efforts will be made to strengthen these Sub-structures by Constructing 3 Offices, provide logistics as well as build the capacities of officials.

Executive and Sub-Committees of Amenfi West Municipal Assembly

The Assembly has an Executive Committee which is responsible for the performance of the executive and co-ordinating functions. It consists of:

(a) the Municipal Chief Executive as Chairperson;

(b) the Chairpersons of the following Sub-Committees of the Executive Committee

· Development Planning,

· Social Services,

· Works,

· Justice and Security,

· Finance and Administration

· the Chairperson of one ad hoc Sub-Committee of the Executive Committee elected by the Municipal Assembly.

(d) any two other members elected by members of the Municipal Assembly, at least one of whom is a woman.

(e) The Municipal Coordinating Director serves as Secretary

The Departments of the Municipal Assembly

With the enactment of the LI 1961 the Municipal Assembly is enjoined to establish the

following eleven (11) departments:

· Central Administration Department

· Works Department

· Physical Planning Department

· Department of Trade and Industry

· Department of Agriculture

· Department of Social Welfare and Community Development

· Legal Department

· Waste Management Department

· Urban Roads Department

· Budgeting and Rating Department

· Transport Department

The Assembly does not have the full complement of these departments. Despite the existence of almost all the decentralised Departments, there is the need for the sector Departments to re-define their roles and functions and their relationships in the integration process