By Christopher Arko
Accra, Aug. 27, GNA – Professor Joseph Atsu Ayee, a Political Science Lecturer at the University of Ghana, has called for the restructuring of Ghana’s decentralisation system to ensure greater autonomy, accountability and effective representation at the local level.
He said policy discontinuity resulting from political transitions, funding constraints, capacity gaps and coordination challenges had hindered efforts to promote accountability and accelerate development at the local level.
Prof Ayee was speaking at a Citizen Forum on “Constitutional Reforms and Democratic Decentralisation in Ghana: The Way Forward for Local Governance”, organised by the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) in Accra on Wednesday.
The forum sought to identify pragmatic ways of addressing challenges confronting decentralisation and local governance, inform policy adoption and enhance citizens’ understanding of the reforms needed to strengthen local governance.
It also provided a platform for governance experts, civil society representatives and other stakeholders to engage on issues central to strengthening democratic decentralisation in Ghana.
Prof Ayee urged Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to focus on development through effective service delivery while ensuring responsiveness and accountability to citizens.
He emphasised the need for MMDAs to address recentralisation directives from some ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), and reduce bureaucratic bottlenecks in their operations to tackle apathy and frustration among citizens.
Ms Becky Enyonam Ahadzi, Coordinator of the Affirmative Act Law Coalition, who spoke on the topic: “Opportunities and Challenges for Women’s Meaningful Participation and Representation in Local Governance”, welcomed Government’s proposal to have women selected as candidates for election as District Chief Executives (DCEs).
She, however, said the proposal would give women only about four per cent representation in the process and would not adequately address their exclusion from decision-making at the local level.
She reiterated the Coalition’s call for the creation of a constitutional mechanism to guarantee a 30 per cent quota for women in Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.
Ms Ahadzi said such a quota would ensure that at least one-third of MMDA membership was reserved for women and could serve as an immediate corrective measure to guarantee equality of access and opportunity.
Mr Douglas Quartey, a Civil Society and Local Governance Practitioner, who presented a paper on “Public Expectations and the Future of Local Governance: Where is the Evidence Leading Us?”, said a survey conducted by IDEG and other civil society organisations indicated that Ghanaians were shifting from non-partisan to partisan voting in local government elections.
He, therefore, called on the Government to review its position on Cabinet-approved proposals for the election of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), arguing that the proposal might not be viable given the prevailing situation.
“If the people want to elect, they should be given the free chance to elect persons to lead them. Anybody at all who feels they have the right qualification to contest for MMDCEs should be given the opportunity,” he said.
Mr Kwesi Jonah, Head of Advocacy and Institutional Relations at IDEG, said the outcome of the forum would contribute to the work of the Constitution Review Committee (CRC).
He said the findings and recommendations from the forum would be made available to the relevant structures of the constitution review and implementation process, including Parliament, to inform further deliberations.
Mr Jonah said the targets set under the Gender Equity Act would be important to achieving greater participation of women in political decision-making.
“It is important for Ghanaian women to get their rightful place in political decision-making. There is quality in our Ghanaian women; this is going to inform our advocacy, and we are going to make sure our women take their rightful places,” he noted.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
By Christopher Arko