Government will deepen decentralization- Vice President

Accra, June 29, GNA - Vice President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday gave the assurance that government would provide logistics and resources that would enhance and deepen decentralization. "We however plead with all the stakeholders in the process to play their roles responsibly to ensure that decentralization and democracy become realities at the grassroots level."

Vice President Mahama said this when he inaugurated the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee for decentralization implementation in Accra. The Committee, which the Vice President chairs, has the ministers of Local government and Rural Development, Health, Education, National Development Planning Commission, Finance and Economic Planning and Food and Agriculture as members. The rest are the Chief of Staff, Head of the Civil Service, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Public Sector Reform and Head of Public Service.

They would among other responsibilities ensure the effective implementation of decentralization throughout the country and create harmony among Ministries, Departments and Agencies. The Vice President expressed regret that Ghana's decentralization programme that chartered a new path for democracy and development in Africa had to suffer some setbacks somewhere along the line and promised to collaborate with all stakeholders to make all the organs efficient and effective. He called for political commitment from all implementers and Chief Executives to exhibit a high level of transparency in order to make Ghana a role model for the African continent. "As an inter-sectoral body that will ensure the implementation and supervise ministerial re-alignment, I will like to call on all stakeholders to be committed to the task ahead of us to achieve the 'Better Ghana' agenda." Mr. Joseph Yieleh Chireh, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, said deepening decentralization depended on all the Ministries and not only his outfit. "We only help draw up the framework for the programme but it takes a collective decision to ensure its implementation, functioning and sustenance in the country," he said. 29 June 10

Caption for pictures: 0551: Vice President John Dramani Mahama, speaking at the inauguration of Inter-Ministerial Committee for Decentralisation Implementation in Accra. 550,565,,569: Vice President John Dramani Mahama, interacting with some of the some of the committee members.