By:Isaac Amoah/email: isaacamoah73@yahoo.com

The Presiding Member (PM) for the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), who doubles as the Dean of Ashanti Presiding Members Conference, Mr. Patrick Kwame Frimpong, has launched a vigorous campaign for the urgent retooling of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), Information Service Department (ISD), Department of Social Welfare Development (DSWD) & Ghana Prisons Service (GPS).

Mr.Patrick Kwame Frimpong

According to Mr. Frimpong, who is also the Assembly Member for the Krofrom Electoral Area within the Kumasi Metropolis, the five constitutional institutions have been neglected for far too long by successive governments under the Fourth Republic.

He said available records indicated clearly that successive governments under the Fourth Republic had neglected the aforementioned relevant institutions of state, and there was an urgent need for all hands to be on deck to help retool them.

Speaking exclusively to “The New Trust” newspaper on Monday, 29th July 2024, on issues the Ghanaian electorate should consider before exercising their franchise in this year’s elections, he bemoaned the long-time neglect of the institutions.

Mr.Patrick Kwame Frimpong and the dive neglected institutions logos.

Mr. Frimpong, who strongly believes institutions and agencies must be strengthened, noted that if the institutions were well retooled, they would make significant impact on the development of the country.

According to the KMA PM, with barely four months to December 7, all political parties and their flagbearers must be challenged to come out with their specific policies and programmes to help strengthen these neglected and dying institutions.

Some core functions of neglected institutions

Mr. Frimpong, who scanned through the core functions or roles of the five institutions, said, for instance, the GNFS is one of the agencies under the Ministry of the Interior. The service was re-established by an Act of Parliament in 1997, Ghana National Fire Service Act, 1997, Act 537. The objective of the service is to prevent and manage undesired fires.

Under the strategic objectives of the mother ministry, the GNFS is required to provide adequate protection for life and properties, sensitise and provide technical assistance and pieces of advice to schools, markets, MMDAs, lorry parks and other institutions nationwide on fire safety measures.

The major programme and project assigned to the service is fire management, rescue and extrication services.

According to him, it is unfortunate that apart from former President Jerry John Rawlings, who procured fire tenders from 1999 to 2000 which were distributed from 2000 to 2001, and former President John Agyekum Kufuor, who also procured fire tenders from 2007 to 2008 and were distributed between 2009 and 2010 under the late Prof. Evans Atta Mills’s administration, the administrations of late Prof.Evans Atta Mills,John Mahama and President Akufo-Addo have not procured a single fire tender.

With regard to the core functions of the DSWD, he said it is the primary government agency mandated to develop, implement and co-ordinate social protection and poverty-reduction solutions for the poor & vulnerable, but the department has been neglected.

Commenting on the current state of the NCCE, he said according to its website, the functions of the commission is to create and sustain within the society the awareness of the principles and objectives of the 1992 Constitution as the fundamental law of the people of Ghana.

Also, it is supposed to educate and encourage the public to defend the Constitution at all times against all forms of abuse and violations.

Unfortunately, the commission has been neglected, and it needs to be equipped with vehicles and other logistics.

The functions of the ISD include the promotion of social accountability in the public policy cycle, mainstream development communication across the public sector, etc.

Besides, Mr. Frimpong expressed concerns, especially about the serious congestions in the various prisons, adding that past interior ministers were only interested in equipping the police service without giving equal logistics to the prisons.

He said per its core mandate, the GPS is tasked with the safe custody of convicted persons from the courts, as well as the provision of reformation and rehabilitation programmes for their successful resettlement into the society.