OB Amoah
A Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Osei Bonsu Amoah, says the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government has a nationalistic agenda to have an all-inclusive government by making the position of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Executive (MMDCE) contestable and elected.
He said the NPP government must be applauded for taking steps to fulfill its campaign promise to make the position of MMDCEs an elected one.
It’s way of sharing power with other political parties because the purported election of MMDCEs would be run as a political office with avenues opened to all political parties who are interested in sponsoring candidates for that position, he said.
The Deputy Minister, who is the NPP MP for Akwapim South, made the disclosure in his contribution to the debate on the President’s ‘State of the Nation’ address in parliament yesterday.
According to him, elected MMDCEs would be more accountable to the electorate.
“I don’t not understand why the office of the president is contested by candidates from political parties and that of the MP is also contested by candidates from political parties but the office of the MMDCE has been made non-partisan,” according to him.
He said when the election becomes partisan as the NPP plans to do, candidates from other political parties will have the chance of also being elected to enhance democracy and deepen decentralization.
“Mr Speaker, political power in a democracy should be from bottom to the top and not top to the bottom,” he said, adding that the only challenge may be the cost and the convenience of it.
He, however, said that to help cut down cost, the President announced in his 2018 ‘State of the Nation’ address that a referendum electing MMDCEs would be held alongside the district assembly elections in 2019.
He said if 40 percent of Ghanaians vote ‘yes’ in the referendum and 75 percent approval is given by parliament then the policy will take effect.
The legislator said the government is committed to making the district assemblies very functional and responsive to the needs of the people at the local level.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr