MMDAs urged to effectively participate in DLT arrangements

Dr Nana Ato Arthur, the Head of Local Service, has called on the Regional Co-ordinating Councils and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to participate in the District League Table arrangements to promote improved services at all levels.

He said this was necessary as it would give opportunity to the councils and assemblies to find out where development or services are lacking and seek support from all.

Dr Arthur said this in a speech read on his behalf at the 2017 Ghana District League Table Regional pre-launch meeting in Accra on Friday.

The event was aimed at sharing the outcomes and lessons learnt from the three years of implementing the DLT to allow stakeholders familiarize themselves with the objectives, processes and outcomes of the initiative.

The District League Table (DLT) is a social accountability tool that ranks Ghana’s 216 districts by their level of development and service delivery.

The DLT uses indicators from six key sectors such as health, water, education sanitation, governance, and security to compile a single score for each district.

Dr Arthur said the tool was very important as Ghanaians have become sophisticated and discerning in their expectations and quest for services from state actors.

He said state actors needed reliable information and data to plan and implement interventions to meet the demands of the citizenry.

“It is the conviction of the Local Government Services that when sustained, the DLT will positively influence and encourage dialogue between the state actors and citizenry.

This will generate healthy competition and lead to improved service delivery,” he said.

Mr Ishmael Ashitey, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, expressed gratitude to UNICEF, CDD-Ghana, and the Ministry of Local Governance for their support towards the implementation.

He said this would help track districts which are doing well in the country and those struggling be given the needed support.

Mr Charles Dzradosi, the Social Policy Specialist UNICEF, said even though the DLT was being implemented for the past three years data collection and analysis had been a central issue.

He said the objective of the DLT was to increase social accountability, support government of Ghana in local development, increase transparency of information, encourage dialogue and feedback, and improve responsiveness.

Mr Dzradosi said there has been significant district and intra-regional inequalities in the wellbeing and development across the country.

“There is the need to allocate resources in an equitable manner so that challenged districts get greater support,” he said.

As a result, there is the need for an improvement in data collection, analysis, dissemination and usage by government, he said.

Mr Dzradosi said the national launch of the District League Table would be in November.