/By
Macdonald Ayang Okumb/
Members of the Board of Directors of the South West
Development Authority, SOWEDA, posit that there are more remarkable days ahead
for the body that serves as a development catalyst for rural communities in the
South West Region.
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| SOWEDA GM (Pic: google images) |
Such optimism from the Board members, as expressed
during a recent Board meeting, is premised on two latest developments; first; a
recent partnership agreement entered between SOWEDA and the Ministry of Public
Works worth FCFA 100 million which will see the rehabilitation of the Bekora to
Bafaka road in Ndian Division measuring 26 kilometres.
And secondly; plans between SOWEDA and the National Technical
Commission for the Rehabilitation of Public Establishments for the signing of a
three-year partnership deal in order to rehabilitate the structure.
In this light therefore, the Board has implored the General
Manager, Dr. Andrew Eneme Ngome, to “fully engage all resources and potentials
in order to transform the socio-economic landscape of the South West Region and
improve the standards of living of its inhabitants.”
The Board meeting presided over by
Board Chairman, Noah Mbongo Molonge, was mainly to examine and adopt the
administrative and management accounts of SOWEDA for the 2014 financial year, was
held in its traditional in-camera style and lasted circa three hours.
It also was an occasion for members to review the
institution’s 2014 annual report of activities, its progress report of
activities as well as a list of materials that have been proposed for boarding
and destruction.
According to the General Manager, SOWEDA, last year,
continued with its routine assignments of fixing rural roads as well as providing
planting materials and other farm inputs to farmers across the Region, even
though they are still faced with various challenges including that of ‘obsolete
equipment.’
Members also agreed that there was need for SOWEDA
to distinguish itself as an exemplary development-oriented state institution.
Hear the Board Chair: “ whatever our actions and responsibilities, we should
never lose sight of the fight against corruption and embezzlement of public
funds which is primordial in the policies of the Head of State as he pilots our
dear nation towards emergence in 2035”
“Good governance and the judicious use of public
resources should remain out watch words at all times. Let us not relent in our
efforts at ensuring that SOWEDA distinguishes itself in management and development”
the Chair further urged.
For the first time since he was appointed and
installed into his functions, the Finance Controller of SOWEDA, Claude Kouake,
was welcomed by the Board members during the meeting.
“…while congratulating you on winning the the
confidence of your Minister to appoint you to this renowned administrative
public establishment, it is our honour to remind you of the basics of your
attributes which are to control and endorse all legal and accounting commitment
documents that are issued by the General Manager and having a financial
incidence on the budget of the establishment…” he was told.
The Board also used the opportunity to thank the Ministry
of Finance for an FCFA 700 million allocation last year that enabled SOWEDA to
begin shrugging off the heavy debt burden that it inherited from the Integrated
Rural Development Project since it ended in 2002.
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