By Edward Dankwah,l
Accra, Sept. 15, GNA – Dr Gameli Kewuribe Hoedoafia, the Executive Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralisation (IMCC), has urged District Coordinating Directors to focus on delivering tangible results that improve the lives of people in their communities.
He said the success of decentralisation should be measured by how effectively policies were implemented at the local level and translated into improved services and opportunities for citizens.
A statement issued in Accra said Dr Hoedoafia made the call at the 8th Annual General Meeting of the Association of District Coordinating Directors of Ghana (ASCOD), held in Cape Coast.
Speaking on the theme, “Transforming District Assemblies for Sustainable Development:
The Role of the Coordinating Director,” he said Coordinating Directors had a critical role in ensuring that District Assemblies remained focused on results.
He said decentralisation should move beyond the formulation of policies to their effective implementation and delivery of measurable outcomes at the district level.
Dr Hoedoafia took participants through the National Decentralisation Policy and Strategic Framework (NDPS) 2026–2030, which provided the direction for accelerating Ghana’s decentralisation agenda and strengthening local governance.
He said the Framework focused on six thematic areas, namely political decentralisation, administrative decentralisation, decentralised planning, fiscal decentralisation, local economic development, and popular participation and accountability.
Dr Hoedoafia said the effectiveness of the Framework would ultimately depend on its implementation at the district level.
He said District Assemblies must be able to translate national priorities into tangible outcomes that responded to the needs and aspirations of citizens.
The Executive Secretary called for stronger financial management and increased local revenue mobilisation to reduce the dependence of District Assemblies on central government transfers.
He urged Coordinating Directors to identify and harness the economic potential of their respective districts to generate additional resources for development.
Dr Hoedoafia also encouraged the effective use of technology, including the District Local Revenue (dLRev) software, to improve revenue mobilisation and financial management.
He urged Coordinating Directors to move beyond ensuring compliance with administrative procedures and focus on effective planning, coordination, resource management and service delivery.
He described Coordinating Directors as central to the effective functioning of District Assemblies, saying their coordination was critical to ensuring that local authorities remained focused on their mandates and development priorities.
Dr Hoedoafia said the ultimate objective of decentralisation was to move from policy to practice, from practice to results, and from results to a better quality of life for Ghanaians.
GNA
Edited by Christabel Addo