Since garnering a 100 percent-vote-endorsement by the Hon. Assembly Members on the 8th of October, 2021, to become the second (2nd) female and fourth (4th) Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for the Ga East Municipal Assembly (GEMA), Hon. Elizabeth Kaakie Mann, has quickly adapted to the working terrain of the Municipality and delivering in an admirable manner.
As we mark her first 100 days in office, the Ga East Municipal Assembly recounts the journey so far and the way forward towards advancing, speedily, the development of the Municipality.
PUNCTUALITY AND WORKPLACE RELATIONSHIP
Hon. Elizabeth Kaakie Mann’s commitment and dedication, and positive attitude towards work has been phenomenal so far. She reports to work at exactly 7:00am and closes at 6:00pm on the average, instead of the official reporting and closing time of 8:00am and 5:00pm respectively.
She has been very accessible and open to all staff, does not discriminate on partisan political lines and welcomes new and innovate ideas from all officers at all levels of the Service’s structures.
STAKEHOLDER-ENGAGEMENTS
Her first two weeks in office were devoted to Stakeholder-Engagements which saw her meet with the traditional leaders at their respective palaces. She also engaged Executives of the over 50 Residents’ Associations in the Municipality to discuss the way forward in addressing their developmental needs submitted to the Assembly prior to her coming into office.
Again, she toured the six (6) public Markets in the Municipality, at Abokobi, Haatso, Kwabenya-Atomic, Taifa-Burkina, Taifa Main, and the largest – Dome Market, where she interacted with the leadership and traders on issues of the development the markets and ways of generating more revenue to support the development of the Municipality.
She has engaged the leadership and traders of the Kwabenya-Atomic Market on two separate occasions, where, in the latter meeting, she displayed to them, for the first time, the architectural drawings for the construction of the market.
She also moved swiftly to prevent the continuous existence of unauthorized structures which have been constructed on sections of the land meant for the construction of a modern market, acquired from the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) in June, 2020, when the nation was hit by the devastating COVID-19 pandemic.
Hon. Kaakie Mann has also introduced herself to heads of the various religious bodies in the Municipality and plans to further engage them to solicit their advice, support, and cooperation towards executing her development agenda for the Municipality.
As part of broadening and deepening stakeholder engagement, Hon. Elizabeth Kaakie Mann also toured all the Police and Health Facilities, as well as the state agencies/institutions such as ECG, GWCL, GAEC, among others, in the Municipality, where she held brief discussions with Management and interacted with some staff.
ENHANCING SECURITY AND EASING TRAFFIC CONGESTION
The MCE, Hon. Elizabeth Kaakie Mann, within her first month in office, distributed over 200 streetlights to various stakeholders including 23 Residents’ Associations and two public health facilities in the municipality. This initiative has so far facilitated a reduction in crime in the affected areas due to the enhanced visibility in the nights and also impacted positively on healthcare delivery.
Hon. Kaakie Mann, within the period, has initiated processes to fix Traffic Lights at key areas to ease traffic on major roads in the Municipality. She is doing this in consultation with the Department of Urban Roads (DUR) and Ghana Highways Authority (GHA).
Through this collaboration, she has continuously been engaging both agencies for the speedy dualization of the Haatso-Atomic road which was initiated in the first term of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Construction of the dual carriage has commenced and it is expected to immensely improve traffic flow on that stretch.
ROADS CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE
In her 100 days in office, Hon. Elizabeth Kaakie Mann has seen to the maintenance of some major roads within the Municipality. These include Abokobi-Boi, Abokobi-Teiman, Taifa-Bankyease, Church of Pentecost in Taifa North,
Abokobi-Pantang and Abokobi-Old Ashongman roads have seen the second sealing of the bitumen surfacing project and awaiting asphalting, while a design has been done to construct culverts and drains at the Parakou section of the Abokobi-Old Ashongman road.
Also the Contractor for the Ashongman Estate to Old Ashongman Pure Water road has been called to site to start work with the drains currently being worked on through her facilitation.
SANITATION AND JOB CREATION
In the area of Sanitation, Hon. Elizabeth Kaakie Mann, in her 100 days in office, has organized several clean-up exercises, including National Sanitation Day, at Taifa North and South, Achimota ABC, Mile 7, St. Johns, and Dome East and West, while using these exercises to create awareness on the “Operation Clean Your Frontage” (OCYF), introduced by the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Hon. Henry Quartey, last year.
Through the OCYF initiative, she has so far created 25 direct jobs and more are expected to be created this year as the Assembly officially starts its enforcement.
Again, through her contacts in Government, the MCE has been able to secure more job opportunities for some of the young graduates in the Municipality.
REDUCING FLOODING
Hon. Kaakie Mann, within the period, inspected flood-prone areas at Ablorh Adjei, Akporman-Boi, Haatso, Agbogba, Dome, Taifa and Kwabenya to acquaint herself with the grounds situation and engage the appropriate, relevant bodies to find lasting solutions to the flooding situation in the Municipality.
In this direction, she has been absolutely committed in facilitating the execution of the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) project which seeks to help address sanitation and flooding situation in the region with the Ga East Municipality as one of the pivotal Project Affected Areas (PAA).
EDUCATION
In the Education sector, the Hon. MCE, with the support of the Member of Parliament for the Dome-Kwabenya Constituency, and Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCSP), Hon. Sarah Adwoa Safo, provided educational materials to JHS final year students in the Municipality towards their preparation for the BECE. She again provided financial support to some less privileged final-year candidates.
FACILITATING MP’S PROJECTS
The Hon. MCE also facilitated the acquisition of land from GAEC for the construction of an ultra modern Courts Complex with a Sod-Cutting Ceremony done for the commencement of the project. The site for the construction works has already been cordoned off public view and steps are being taken to relocate the Project Affected Persons (PAPs) in the area.
She also provided the needed support for the Hon. MP to commission an ultra-modern office for the National Health Insurance Scheme at Atomic Roundabout, which shares wall with the Atomic Post Office.
Undoubtedly, Hon. Elizabeth Kaakie Mann has worked tirelessly within the first 100 days to ensure continuity in and speedy development of the Municipality with the support of all stakeholders, especially the Hon. Presiding Member, Municipal Coordinating Director, Heads of Departments, Assembly and Unit Committee Members, Staff of the Assembly, and the rank and file of the NPP in the Dome-Kwabenya Constituency, heavily supported by the Hon. MP.
Her massive work and engagements with stakeholders in the period under review have won her myriads of admiration, accolades and commendations within and outside her jurisdiction.
Surely, Hon Elizabeth Kaakie Mann is the woman of the moment and is set to deliver the much-needed development, especially in the roads sector which she has labeled as her “passion”.
Cheers to a successful 100 days in office, Hon. Elizabeth Kaakie Mann, and best of wishes for massive development in the days, weeks, months and years ahead.
