Soso to visit 264 wards, distribute funds

 Eastern Highlands Governor Julie Soso plans to visit the 264 council wards in the province to find out what they need.

That follows the allocation of K2.6 million for the wards in the provincial budget. Each councillor, as chairman of the ward development committee, will get K10,000.

Soso appealed to the 24 local level government presidents and eight MPs to allocate an additional K10,000 each to take the total to K30,000 for each ward councillor.

“One of my priorities this year is going to all our 264 local level government wards,” Soso said. “I have funded close to K2.6m to all the ward councillors. 

“Each one will receive K10,000 each. The money is to help the ward councillor come up with a development committee as the organic law requires.

“The ward councillor is the chairman of the ward development committee and who should find out their priorities after carrying out a census exercise.

“The committee should know how many people are in their ward, how many are over and below the age of 50, how many are youths, children, disable and elderly through the ward recorder. 

“Our last public servant is the ward recorder,” Soso said.

“This year it’s my priority, if it mean I go by helicopter and planes into rural areas I will do that.

“Under our Kirapim hauslain bottom-up approach programme, our officers will move into all the wards and give them their K10,000. 

“We are asking each ward to open their own bank accounts.”