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Since 1988, Ghana, along with several other African countries, has ventured into the territory of local government reforms (Awal, 2020) in a calculated attempt to design better structures to administer or achieve decentralization. After three decades of pursuing these reforms, which recently culminated in the passage of the Local Government Amendment Bill 2017 which restored the discretionary power of the president to revoke the appointment of appointees to district assemblies, what has happened? changed in the local governance structure in Ghana? What have we achieved and what is the way forward, if the dreams of the ancestors are to be realized?
In this brief, we paint a picture of the current state of the country vis-à-vis its architecture of local government and decentralization. We then trace the most recent attempts at reforms in the structure of the country’s local government that subsequent governments have made to deepen participation in government at the local level with the ultimate goal of achieving effective development at the community level. The document then continues with an assessment of President Akufo-Addo’s list of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Directors General (MMDCEs) and a proposal on the way forward for local governance in Ghana.
First, it cannot be denied the fact observed by (Awal, 2020) that the current structure of local governments across the country makes them weak and irresponsible to the people they are to serve. The very fact that the appointments of directors general of local communities are made from Accra creates a zero-sum game to the detriment of the assemblies and the people. The appointees do not have a fixed term and serve at the pleasure of the president. This ties their loyalty to the appointing authority rather than to those they serve. The law also ensures that the chief executive can take office without the approval of the assembly, which has been achieved by requiring multiple votes in the event that the person appointed by the president is rejected in the vote. initial. The embarrassing spectacle that ensued in Ada East’s 2017 election leading to Sarah Pobee taking office amid alleged national security agents locking up members of the voting assembly is an offshoot of this position in law. Even with subsequent presidents imposing their party favorites on local assemblies, they failed to allocate sufficient resources to them to ensure efficient administration of assemblies.
In his article edited under the auspices of the Center for Democratic Development, (Awal 2020) found that assemblies still urgently need an increase and improvement in the allocation of national and sector resources. They must also “strengthen systems for data collection, performance monitoring and accountability”. He writes that “these reforms in the administrative and fiscal accountability relationship between central and local governments would have the greatest potential to generate responsive local governance and better responsible service delivery.” The document also supported the long calls for the election of MMDCEs – which brings me to the next section of this brief, namely: what has been done in recent times to achieve proper decentralization and responsible at the base of government?
In 2004, the JA Kufuor administration took a radical step in achieving development at the local level with an unconventional approach. MPs were allocated 5% of the District Assemblies’ common fund. The duty of legislators is to lay down the law, but since they are the most senior government official elected by the people, the demand for development has been placed at their doorstep, instead of the possibility of electing their MMDCEs. The lack of monitoring of these funds as observed by (Appiah-Agyekum, 2013) made this reform a simple reform because the effect did not materialize on the ground.
In 2010, the Atta-Mills-Mahama administration set up a Constitutional Review Commission to seek advice on a fundamental amendment to the Constitution. Chapter 9 of the White Paper deals with local authorities. To strengthen the accountability of the heads of the executive to the people, the Commission recommended the public election of the heads of the metropolitan executive. The government rejected this proposal and was instead of the opinion that “Article 243 (1) of the Constitution should be amended so that the president appoints a minimum of 5 persons whose competence would be examined by the Commission des services publics (PSC ), after which 3 people the candidates would run in a public election. The Commission’s work was never implemented until the National Democratic Congress (NDC) lost power to the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 2016.
President Akufo-Addo in 2019 decided to carry out the biggest reform of local government administration since independence, making the post available by universal adult suffrage. The government and the NDC opposition have agreed that the election should be on a partisan basis. Only a 2/3 majority in parliament was needed to pass the amendment for the MMDCE election, however, the decision to allow political parties to participate in the said election required a referendum with an overwhelming majority of voters. ‘approving. The NDC’s last-minute U-turn to campaign for “NO” in the referendum led President Akufo-Addo to abandon the amendment altogether, which led to the need for a continued nomination by the president.
In 2021, the appointment was delayed for 9 months which courted bad press for the government. The publication of the list itself raised even more questions. Among them, the question of gender is topical. Out of 260 nominees, only 38, representing 14.6% were women. Dan Botwe, Minister of Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development, in response to criticism who criticized the president for not ensuring better representation of women, said women should show more interest in politics and expressing more zeal to occupy positions of responsibility within the government; he is right. In the 8e Parliament, a meager 14.54% of women are represented in the House. This is what universal adult suffrage has achieved, almost exactly the percentage appointed by the president. The data therefore do not corroborate the invectives addressed to the president for the low representation of women on the list of MMDCE. Another rather bizarre argument put forward by critics is that the president should have stuck exactly to the recommendations of the committee he set up to advise him on the appointment of MMDCEs. First, the Chairman is not bound by the advice of the Committees or Councils with which he works. As explained by the Supreme Court in GBA & Others v. AG, this is just advice and does not bind him. On top of that, the audit committee put in place is not a constitutional body to bind the president in any way, as Akufo-Addo’s rejection of a number of recommended candidates shows. In the Volta region, for example, the number of people not recommended has exceeded the number of first-choice recommendations that were selected, raising questions about the effectiveness of the so-called consultation, also evident in the protests that followed the publication of the list. .
What then is the way forward in administering local governments to ensure proper accountability to the people and not appointing authority? Research is abundant in this area and the consensus among academics is that MMDCEs must be elected by universal adult suffrage to ensure accountability to the people. In addition, practical devolution and fiscal decentralization should be given priority by legislators and the executive. The election of MMDCEs on a partisan basis as proposed by Akufo-Addo in 2019 and the holding of such midterm elections of the president have the advantage of keeping the administration to higher standards since they have an election to earn every 2 years instead of the regular 4 year interval which is a win-win system.
By Oswald Azumah
IntelAfrique Limited is a political consultancy firm in Ghana offering a diverse skill set and astute knowledge of the West African sub-region.
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