Parliament Thursday approved the new Local Governance Bill 2016 that seeks to review, amend and consolidate all legislations affecting local governance and decentralisation in the country.
The umbrella local governance bill encompasses the District Assembly Common Fund Act, 1993 (Act 455); Local Government Act 1993 (Act 462); the National Development Planning (System) Act, 1994 (Act 480); the Local Government Service Act, 2003 (Act 656) and the Internal Audit Agency Act, 2003 (Act 658); and it is to give greater autonomy to the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to effectively plan for their development in their respective jurisdictions.
After the passage of the bill, the chairman of the Committee on Local Government and Rural Development, Dominic Azumah, told journalists that the legislation would eliminate any conflicting powers at the local government level.
He said now the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies will be able to do long term development plans and submit to the regional coordinating councils which in turn will forward them to the National Planning Development Commission for synchronisation with the national development agenda.
He indicated that in the new bill, MMDAs have been empowered to notify and demolish unauthorised structures in their respective jurisdictions.
He said the new bill has been structured in such a way that the MMDAs will function effectively but will do so according to the law.
He however, noted that the bill could not give authority for metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives to be elected because it is a constitutional issue and will take an amendment of the constitution to be able to do that.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr