Ahwoi clarifies ambiguity in Ghana's decentralisation system

Accra, May 11, GNA - Mr. Kwamena Ahwoi, Local Governance Expert, on Tuesday clarified an ambiguity in Ghana's decentralised system of government and called for legislative reforms to fast track its implementation. "Ghana's Constitution uses the term decentralisation to mean different things at the different levels of governance..this has been one of the greatest hindrances to the implementation of the decentralisation policy in Ghana", Mr Ahwoi stated at a public lecture on Ghana's decentralised system in Accra.

He explained that at the national level, decentralisation conveyed a sense of ministerial restructuring in which at the level of broad generalisation, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) were to be restricted to policy making, planning, evaluation, and monitoring of government activities.

At the regional levels, MDAs operate as departments of the national level MDAs and not under the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) taking instructions from national level, and providing feedback from the sub-national to the national levels MDAs. Mr. Ahwoi who served as Minister of Local Government and Rural Development for 12 years noted that, at the district level of governance - devolution level, the district assembly was set up as a body corporate with legal personality which could sue and be sued, acquire and dispose of assets.

"Simply put the DA has the character spelt out in Article 241 (3) which makes it the highest political authority in the district, and have deliberative, legislative and executive powers", he said. He said decentralisation at the sub-district structures were in the nature of delegation only "they may take decisions of their own based on the functions and powers conferred on them by law and delegated to them by the DAs but they do not take responsibility for those decisions". Mr. Ahwoi said, "this was the state of confusion in its implementation when in 2008, the Minister of Local Government, purporting to exercise his power under section 32 (1) of Act 656 twice attempted unsuccessfully to issue Legislative Instrument 1931 to establish Department of Regional Coordinating Council and Departments of the DA respectively". The LGS Act 2003, (Act 656) establishes a single unified Local Government Service for all the local authorities in Ghana.

According to him, Section 161 (1) of Act 462, provides that the 22 decentralised departments now at the district level, are to cease to exist in their present form, whilst section 38 (1) provides that through series of merges, the 22 departments are to be reconstituted into 16 departments in the Metropolitan Assemblies, 13 in the Municipal Assemblies, and 11 in the district assemblies and re-established.

However, he noted: "even though these departments have been established under section 38 (1), they only become operational under the procedure provided for in section 164, and L.I. 1961 is a fulfillment of that procedure, as provided for by law.

He explained that Section 34 stipulates that "on the coming into force of the Act the members of staff of the 14 civil service departments listed in the schedule shall be deemed to have been transferred to a Department of a District ... to form part of the service from the date of transfer." The personnel have been classified under 11 decentralised departments, Central administration, Finance, Education Youth and Sports, Health, Agriculture, Physical Planning, Social Welfare and Community Development, Natural Resources Conservation, Works, Trade and Industry, and Disaster Prevention.

Mr. Ahwoi explained that functions previously performed by branches, divisions or units of the departments to be transferred had been identified and merged with those of the assemblies. He said under section 34, Health, Fisheries, Forestry, Game and Wildlife and Fire, which were all decentralised sectors under Act 462, had been removed from the list of decentralised departments."they have been re-centralised". 11 May 10