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Mr Osei Bonsu Amoah, a Deputy Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, has reignited the debate on the election of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs).

Speaking in Accra at the opening of a multi-stakeholder conference on Governance Reforms in Ghana, Mr Amoah reiterated that the election of MMDCEs was a critical area of political decentralization in the country.

The two-day multi-stakeholder conference on the theme “Forging Consensus Towards Local Government Reforms in Ghana”, is being organised by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) in collaboration with the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) and the Civil Society Coalition for Local Government Reforms in Ghana.

Mr Amoah said Ghanaians would draw lessons from the bold step the Government took between 2018 and 2019 to take away the power of the President to appoint MMDCEs and to allow the election of such chief executives through the multi-party democratic system.

He noted that regrettably when it appeared that major stakeholders who had initially endorsed the new phase of the critical aspect of political decentralisation called for the rejection of the Bill, the President asked for the process to be aborted with the withdrawal of the Bill for the referendum.

He said regarding the repeal of Article 55(3), the President called for a national consensus on the issue.

He said the President emphasized that “should such a consensus be attained for the repeal of Article 55(3) of the Constitution, and an agreement reached for political parties to participate in and sponsor candidates for election to district assemblies, (at any point during my tenure of office), the matter will be brought back to the front burner of our public discourse for the necessary action.”

Mr Amoah said for this critical area of political decentralisation, the key issues were how they achieve consensus at the intra-party, inter-party stakeholders’ level.

“How do we do things differently from the previous experience? Do the amendments of the constitutional provisions on political decentralisation stand alone or become part of a comprehensive reform of the Constitution?” he quizzed.

“How do we cater for the interest of critical stakeholders like traditional authorities and marginalized groups?”

He said the Government was focused on deepening local level democracy and participation through the active involvement of citizens and other stakeholders; improving the administrative and human resource capacity of the local government system and structures for quality service delivery; and enhancing fiscal systems and financial administration at all levels.

Mr Amoah praised CDD-Ghana, IDEG and the Civil Society Coalition for Local Government Reforms in Ghana for their efforts regarding advocacy, research and survey, as well as nationwide consultations on key areas for comprehensive local government reforms.

Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh, the Executive Director, CDD-Ghana, said the election of MMDCEs was critical in deepening Ghana’s democratic credentials; stating that other African countries such as Sierra Leone and Uganda, which came to study Ghana’s Local Government System were now electing their MMDCEs.

Dr Kojo Asante, Director for Advocacy and Policy Engagement, CDD-Ghana, said the multi-stakeholder conference sought to forge on key areas for comprehensive local government reforms in the country.

He noted that a study they had conducted indicated that of the 6,000 assembly members in the country only 460 were women, adding that there was a real problem with inclusion at the local government level.

Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, the Executive Director, IDEG, said the forging consensus business towards the election of MMDCEs was the critical thing the President had put on the table in his address to the nation on April 28, 2022.

The Executive Director said the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) were both interested in deepening the decentralisation programme of the country, and that the duo only differ with regards to the issue of election of the MMDCEs.

Mr Kwesi Jonah, Research Fellow, IDEG, in his presentation said if Ghana was able to implement a fully grown multiparty democracy, the office of the district chief executive would be electable and that the district chief executives would have to cooperate with the central Government to ensure that the Government’s policies were implemented in his district for the benefit of the people.