By Christopher Arko, GNA
Accra, Oct. 4, GNA – Mr Douglas Quartey, a Development Practitioner, has called on the Government to reconsider its position on non-partisan District Assembly Elections, saying political parties already influence local-level elections.
He said the growing call for elected Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) was not simply about adding another election to Ghana’s calendar, but about making local executives directly accountable to citizens.
Mr Quartey was speaking at an IDEG-Oxfam Citizens’ Forum in Accra on local governance and decentralisation reforms.
Speaking on the topic: “Public Expectations and the Future of Local Governance: Where Is the Evidence Leading Us?”, he noted that although the Government’s position paper maintained the non-partisan nature of District Assembly Elections, Ghana’s political reality had moved beyond that position.
He said political parties were already supporting candidates, mobilising voters and influencing local-level campaigns, and therefore the reality should be acknowledged and properly regulated by allowing political parties to participate in the elections.
Citing the 2024 Afrobarometer survey, Mr Quartey said 47.6 per cent of respondents supported changing the law to allow Assembly members to contest on political party platforms, compared with 43.5 per cent who disagreed.
He said the reform should allow political parties, smaller political formations and independent candidates to compete openly in District Assembly Elections to give citizens meaningful choices and deepen local democracy.
Professor Joseph Atsu Ayee of the Department of Political Science, University of Ghana, reinforced the concern, describing the notion that local governance was free from political party participation as a “charade”.
He argued that political party influence already existed within the system and should therefore be openly acknowledged and properly regulated.
Similar concerns about the effectiveness of Ghana’s local governance system have been expressed by public officials.
Justice Sir Dennis Dominic Adjei, during his vetting by Parliament’s Appointments Committee, called for a bold national decision on whether political parties should be formally allowed to participate in District Assembly Elections.
Similarly, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of Education and Member of Parliament for Tamale South, recently questioned what he described as the pretence surrounding District Assembly Elections at a public event on decentralisation.
He called for a candid national conversation on whether candidates should continue to contest as individuals or be allowed to stand on political party tickets, while ensuring that the process remained competitive and open to public scrutiny.
The concerns were re-echoed at the Citizens’ Forum, themed: “Constitutional Reform and Democratic Decentralisation in Ghana: The Way Forward for Local Governance.”
The forum brought together representatives from civil society organisations, women’s groups, youth, academia and development partners to discuss practical solutions to challenges confronting Ghana’s local governance system.
Discussions highlighted persistent shortcomings in the country’s decentralisation framework, with stakeholders calling for a re-examination of the constitutional and legal foundations of local government to better align the system with citizen participation, accountability and local development outcomes.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
By Christopher Arko