Dan Botwe – Minister of Local Government and Rural Development
NOT all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) are living up to the billing of their offices.
Some are simply lost, not comprehending what is expected of them regarding the implementation of government policies at the grassroot level of governance.
They will all now be demanded to show results. This is a fair demand from the Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development Minister. The minister spoke the minds of many who have not been too enthused about the performance of some MMDAs when he made the demand recently.
The demand is coming on the heels of an already existing template of the Office of Head of Local Government Service to measure the performance of such appointees.
The little or no sense of urgency on the part of some appointees has not been lost over the years on the part of local government watchers.
We expect MMDCEs to justify their positions by making positive impacts in their areas of jurisdiction. Their performance should be measured religiously against prescribed benchmarks. We could not be asking for more when so much flows from central government to prop them up to deliver on their mandate.
Their poor revenue mobilisation drive is another deficiency which calls for public conversation. The central government is available to intervene with funds always. Perhaps this is a factor which somewhat accounts for the sorry state of this subject in the MMDA architecture.
The effect of central government will only be felt and rightly so when the implementing bodies, the MMDAs, exhibit leadership qualities.
The place of MMDAs, and for that matter MMDCEs, is critical in governance which is why decentralisation has remained a deliberate and sustained term of reference of government. This is amply showed in the nomenclature of the Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development Ministry.
Governance at the doorstep of the citizenry is a subject which has over the years witnessed various alterations all in a bid to ensure that the purpose for which MMDAs with MMDCEs heading them, were set up, is achieved.
Unfortunately, as pointed out in an earlier paragraph, some appointees appear not too concerned about implementing policies that would enhance the livelihood of the people.
Many who live in the jurisdictions of the MMDAs hardly comprehend the role of their respective assemblies. As a result therefore, non-performing MMDAs get away with their poor performance even as their areas of jurisdictions lose out in the development agenda of the government.
We are aware about the Office of the Head of Local Government’s watchdog role in this regard but hasten to add that some of the MMDAs still lag behind, in terms of their grasp of the responsibilities bestowed upon them.
This will become apparent when the performing examination is in full flight and the results made public.
The election of MMDCEs is the best option because then the people will be able to award scores through the ballot box. Let us give this option another thought.