Political transitions and weak institutional capacity at the local level are undermining Ghana’s efforts to deepen decentralisation and make local governance more responsive, Professor Joseph Atsu Ayee of the University of Ghana has said.
He said frequent changes in political leadership and policy direction had disrupted continuity in the implementation of decentralisation policies, while Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) continued to face inadequate capacity, financial constraints and poor service delivery.
Prof. Ayee made the remarks at a Citizens’ Forum organised by the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) in Accra yesterday on the theme: “Constitutional Reform and Democratic Decentralisation in Ghana: The Way Forward for Local Governance.”
He said although decentralisation had recorded some progress through the establishment of legal frameworks, infrastructure and local government structures, implementation remained weak.
According to him, the autonomy of MMDAs was largely “on paper”, as the assemblies continued to depend heavily on central government for financial resources and key decisions.
Prof. Ayee called for comprehensive constitutional and institutional reforms to strengthen the autonomy, accountability and effectiveness of MMDAs.
He also urged political leaders to ensure continuity in decentralisation policies, improve revenue mobilisation at the local level and empower assemblies to deliver essential services, particularly sanitation and disaster management.
The professor of Political Science further advocated a broad national dialogue involving political parties, civil society organisations, traditional authorities and citizens to build consensus on the future direction of decentralisation.
A Civil Society and Local Governance practitioner, Mr Douglas Quartey, also called for comprehensive reforms to deepen decentralisation, strengthen accountability and enhance citizens’ participation in local governance.
He said the proposed election of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) must guarantee genuine citizens’ choice, rather than allow the government to determine who could contest.
Mr Quartey also questioned the continued appointment of one-third of assembly members by the President, arguing that the practice had not achieved its original objective of promoting inclusiveness and bringing local expertise into the assemblies.
He noted that although local government elections were constitutionally non-partisan, political parties had, in practice, played significant roles in the elections.
He therefore urged stakeholders to reconsider the non-partisan nature of the elections, citing low voter turnout compared with presidential and parliamentary elections as evidence of declining public interest.
The Coordinator of the Affirmative Action Law Coalition, Ms Becky Enyonam Ahadzi, called for a constitutional guarantee of minimum women’s representation in District Assemblies.
She said reliance solely on elections had consistently failed to produce adequate representation of women in local governance and called for deliberate measures to correct the imbalance.
Ms Ahadzi proposed using appointments as a corrective mechanism where election results produced low female representation.
She also urged the government to fully implement the Affirmative Action Act through measures such as training, mentoring, data collection and gender-responsive budgeting.
She further called for stronger protection for women against violence and attacks in politics, stressing that a safe political environment was essential to encouraging more women to participate in elections.
BY EUGENE AMPIAW
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