Location & boundaries

The Lawra Municipal is one of the eleven Municipal/Districts that make up the Upper West Region. It lies in the north-western corner of the Upper West Region in Ghana. It is bounded to the North by Nandom Municipal, to the East by Lambussie-Karni District, to the South by Jirapa Municipal and to the West by the Republic of Burkina Faso. The total area of the Municipality is put at 1,051.2 square km. This constitutes about 5.7% of the Region's total land area, which is estimated at 18,476 square km.

Legal basis

The Municipal has been legally born several times, with the recent one being its upgrading to Municipal Status. Its current existence stems from Legislative Instrument 2279 of 2017. It has one Town, and three Area Councils namely: Lawra, Babile, Eremon, and Zambo respectively.

Mandate

The Municipal Assembly derives its mandate from Chapter 20 of the 1992 Constitution and Section 1 of the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936), which establishes all districts in the country. Its current existence mandates from Legislative Instrument 2279 of 2017. It has one Town, and three Area Councils namely: Lawra, Babile, Eremon, and Zambo respectively.

Vision

The Lawra Municipal Assembly exists to be an efficient and effective body to harness the resources of the Municipality, both human and natural, for the holistic development of the Municipality.

Mission statement

The Lawra Municipal Assembly as a decentralized formal local authority of governance exists primarily to mobilize, harness and manage both human and natural resources to establish an enabling environment that would enhance an accelerated development and improvement in the quality of the lives and living standards of the people in the Municipality.

Core values

• Participation
• Professionalism
• Client Focus
• Transparency
• Effective and Efficient Use of Resources
• Accountability

Functions of the Lawra Municipal Assembly

The functions of the Lawra Municipal Assembly, just as all other Municipal Assemblies, are basically derived from the statutes: Chapter 20 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936), and Legislative Instrument 2279 of 2017, among others. These functions, which are generally aimed at obtaining its objectives and fulfilling its mission of improving the quality of life of its people, include:

(1) The Lawra Municipal Assembly shall

• Exercise political and administrative authority in the Municipality;
• Promote local economic development; and
• Provide guidance, give direction to and supervise other administrative authorities in the Municipality as may be prescribed by law.

(2) Deliberative, legislative and executive functions

The Municipal Assembly shall exercise deliberative, legislative and executive functions.

(3) Without limiting subsections (1) and (2), the Municipal Assembly shall

• Be responsible for the overall development of the Municipality;
• Formulate and execute plans, programmes and strategies for the effective mobilization of the resources necessary for the overall development of the Municipality;
• Promote and support productive activity and social development in the Municipality and remove any obstacles to initiative and development;
• Sponsor the education of students from the Municipality to fill particular manpower needs of the Municipality, especially in the social sectors of education and health, making sure that the sponsorship is fairly and equitably balanced between male and female students;
• Initiate programmes for the development of basic infrastructure and provide municipal works and services in the Municipality;
• Be responsible for the development, improvement and management of human settlements and the environment in the Municipality;
• In co-operation with the appropriate national and local security agencies, be responsible for the maintenance of security and public safety in the Municipality;
• Ensure ready access to courts in the Municipality for the promotion of justice;
• Act to preserve and promote the cultural heritage within the Municipality;
• Initiate, sponsor or carry out studies that may be necessary for the discharge of any of the duties conferred by this Act or any other enactment; and
• Perform any other functions that may be provided under another enactment.

(4) The Municipal Assembly shall take the steps and measures that are necessary and expedient to

• Execute approved development plans for the district;
• Guide, encourage and support sub-district local structures, public agencies and local communities to perform their functions in the execution of approved development plans;
• Initiate and encourage joint participation with other persons or bodies to execute approved development plans;
• Promote or encourage other persons or bodies to undertake projects under approved development plans; and
• Monitor the execution of projects under approved development plans and assess and evaluate their impact on the development of the Municipality and national economy in accordance with government policy.

(5) Co-ordination of development programmes

The Municipal Assembly shall co-ordinate, integrate and harmonise the execution of programmes and projects under approved development plans for the Municipality and other development programmes promoted or carried out by Ministries, Departments, public corporations and other statutory bodies and non-governmental organisations in the Municipality. The Municipal Assembly also performs other functions under other enactments.