By Philip Tengzu
Wa, (UW/R), April 16, GNA – Some stakeholders in the Upper West Region have called for increased investment in less developed districts to ensure equitable development as a strategy to reduce rural-urban migration to promote inclusive growth.
They said the disparities in infrastructure and service delivery between urban and rural areas continued to drive rural-urban migration, which had led to undue pressure on facilities in urban areas.
The stakeholders, including traditional leaders, District Chief Executives and representatives of youth and women groups, among others, made the call at a dissemination of a research report on “Resetting Ghana’s Local Governance System for Enhanced Effectiveness”.
The Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) organised an engagement in Wa with support from the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) to also gather stakeholders’ input to inform policy recommendations on local governance reforms.
Speaking at the engagement, Kuoro Osman Deiwia Nankpa III, the Paramount Chief of the Pullima Traditional Area, advanced the need for deliberate policies to expand access to social amenities and economic opportunities in rural
“If we have the same facilities people are looking for in Accra, Kumasi, and Tamale in the rural areas, we will be able to reduce the migration where people are forced to live under very difficult conditions”, he said.
Talking about the district-level elections, Kuoro Nankpa argued that a non-partisan election for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives would allow voters to choose competent individuals regardless of political affiliation.
Mr Anthony Zienel, the Nandom Municipal Chief Executive, rejected recommendations to stagger district-level elections based on the level of development of the districts, stressing that all districts should be treated equally in governance reforms.
He urged the government to prioritise equitable development by investing in less developed districts to enhance their economic viability and encourage people to stay and contribute to their districts’ development.
Mr Zienel also called for legal provisions to ensure the timely release and disbursement of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), noting that delays in funding continued to undermine development planning and implementation at the local level.
In a Presentation, Nana Kwabena Aborampah-Mensah, a Senior Programmes Manager at CDD-Ghana, said the study assessed key aspects of local governance across 24 selected districts, focusing on administrative effectiveness, financial capacity, accountability systems, and citizen participation.
He indicated that many assemblies remained financially weak, with some generating as low as one per cent of their total revenue from Internally Generated Funds (IGF), making them heavily dependent on central government transfers.
The report also highlighted concerns about the functionality of sub-district structures, including unit committees, and inadequate consultation between assemblies and traditional authorities in planning and implementation processes.
It also called for complementary reforms such as strengthening sub-structures, improving revenue mobilisation, and increasing the District Assembly Common Fund allocation from five to at least 10 per cent.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali .Kenneth Odeng Adade