According to Mr Ebenezer Dadzie, the District Chief Executive, the Shama District is prepared for municipal status, with all necessary consultations completed and paperwork sent to the Local Government Ministry for action.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Thursday, he said that the area now has over 95,000 residents and significant industries functioning there, making it qualified for municipal status.
He claimed that an upgrade would result in the central government help required to promote development.
The DCE expressed appreciation to Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, the Western Regional Minister, for helping to realize the district’s development ambition.
“Yes, we have started the process, the Regional Minister is also very key, making sure that we get the municipal status because it will help us a lot. It will change our financial status as a district and then it will bring development,” he said.
“So we’re very keen on making sure that we achieve that.”
According to Mr Dadzie, the district should be given that status as soon as it satisfies all criteria in terms of population, infrastructure, and human resources.
The Shama District Assembly was established in December 2007 by a Legislation Instrument (LI1882) with the goal of raising peoples’ standards of living through superior socio-economic services.
As one of the Western Region’s 14 administrative districts, it promoted and carried out development within its sphere of influence.
Shama Town serves as the district’s administrative centre and was created by the Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly.
The Assembly consists of 27 members and six sub-district entities (area councils), and its total land area is 193.7 km2 or around 1% of the region as a whole.