LOGNet holds workshop on decentralization action plan
The Local Governance Network (LOGNet) in collaboration with the Inter Ministerial coordinating committee (IMCC) has organized a workshop to educate the civil society on the Ghana National Decentralization action plan.
The decentralization Action plan was launched in 2010 to help reform the structures of the local assemblies and also to accelerate and empower them in the provision of economic power and better social infrastructure to the people that they serve.
Dr Esther Aboagye, Director of the Institute of Local Government Studies, said the decentralization action plan came to reform the old system, which was plagued with poor human resource development and poor service delivery at the local level.
The action plan, she said, has also helped to facilitate local level democracy through active participation of the people.
She said the action plan policy was built around four main pillars, which include political, administrative and fiscal decentralization and all is to help improve the administration and the human resource capacity of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) and all other local government stakeholders to ensure quality service delivery at the local level.
Professor Kwamena Ahwoi, a former local government Minister and a lecturer at GIMPA, who spoke on the status report of the implementation of the new decentralization Policy framework, stated that the implementation of the action plan became necessary due to the different views that various government had about the local government ministry.
Prof. Ahwoi said the content of the policy was formulated on consensus from all political parties with the assurance of the continuity of the Action plan.
He said despite the effort to make the decentralization system work better by using the action plan, the system was still facing some challenges in the area of continuity of the various project of the Assemblies when there is a change in government.
He stressed that the control of the common fund from the central government was holding back the development at the various local government sector.
Prof. Ahwoi said the current trend of selecting District Chief Executive do not ensure proper accountability of the office holders to the public, adding that, DCEs will be open and accountable when they take their mandate from the people.
He called for strong government support of the decentralization system to function effectively, saying, it was very important in national development efforts.
The day’s workshop was on the theme: “Deepening Decentralisation Advocacy for effective Participation in Democracy and Self Reliance.”
Source: GNA