Electing MMDCEs crucial; it’ll promote local democracy and accountability – CCEG

The Center for Civic Engagement and Governance (CCEG) has called on the Mahama administration to expedite efforts toward enabling the election of Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to help strengthen Ghana’s decentralisation process.

According to the civil society organisation, the current decentralisation architecture has failed to deliver the meaningful development envisioned under the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936).

Although the Act provides a robust legal framework for both administrative and political decentralisation, CCEG argues that communities at the local level lack true accountability, as MMDCEs often show loyalty to the appointing authority rather than to the people they serve.

In a statement analysing the shortcomings of Ghana’s local governance system, Wesley Owusu, Co-founder of CCEG, stated that the centralised mode of appointing MMDCEs “weakens local ownership and accountability because it creates a situation where MMDCEs are more loyal to the appointing authority than to the people they are meant to serve.”

Decentralisation and Development: What’s Missing?

For over three decades, Ghana has presented decentralisation as a key strategy for promoting equitable development, empowering communities, and deepening democracy. Successive governments have pledged to strengthen local governance structures, and while some progress has been made, the overall results have been inconsistent.

Local governments now exist across all districts, and District Assemblies are legally mandated to plan and implement development initiatives.

However, a deeper question remains: Why hasn’t decentralisation translated into tangible development outcomes for most Ghanaians? What is missing?

At the core of Ghana’s decentralisation architecture lies the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936), which establishes a strong legal foundation for both administrative and political decentralisation.

The Act grants Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) legislative and executive authority over their jurisdictions and tasks them with ensuring comprehensive local development. Yet, as with any law, effectiveness depends on implementation — and therein lies the problem.