Hajia Alima Mahama addressing the audience
Minister for Local Government & Rural Development (MLGRD), Hajia Alima Mahama, has indicated that government’s decision to get MMDCEs elected on partisan lines is a major milestone in the democratic history of the country.
Speaking last Thursday at a roundtable discussion on the topic ‘election of MMDCEs in Ghana: how do we operate a decentralised governance system with an elected MMDCE on partisan basis’, the minister stated that the change will lead to a number of advantages, as well as increase people’s participation at the grassroots.
The event was organised by the Centre for Local Government Advocacy (CLGA), an Accra-based non-profit advocacy and research institution.
The CLGA aims, among other things, at promoting good and effective local governance and decentralisation strategies through evidence-based research, training and capacity building.
The minister, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nalerigu/Gambaga, mentioned that the people at the grassroots have a lot to benefit in this direction.
It includes opportunities for the people to choose their leaders; MMDCEs become more responsive and directly accountable to the people and have security of tenure.
“It is an undeniable fact that electing MMDCEs on partisan basis which is already happening will introduce some dynamism and new administrative processes in the management of the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies,” she added.
According to her, Ghana has since 1998 developed a number of legislation and policies to guide the implementation of the local government system, however, key among the challenges has been the call on government to revisit the mode of appointments of the MMDCEs.
“It is in the light of the challenges associated with the appointment of MMDCEs that the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government under President Nana Akufo-Addo’s manifesto content explicitly indicated its intention to introduce it on partisan lines,” she explained.
The minister assured that government is poised to follow due processes in this regard so that the administrative systems are structured to enhance the needed collaborations between the various hierarchies of governance, including disbursement of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF).
By Solomon Ofori