The Constitutional Review Committee And Election of DCES

Attempts to decentralise the administration of Ghana Started as far back as 1948 with the setting up of the Watson commission which was followed by various other commissions ad committees on decentralization, and the implementation has been very difficult for several reasons. What actually galvanized the erstwhile PNDC government under former Chairman Rawlings into taking the Bull by the horns and tackling the decentralization policy very seriously was its commitment to making the people part of the DECISION MAKING PROCESS. However, this could not be effectively carried out with an entire government machinery centred in the NATIONAL CAPITAL where all major policy decisions programmes and development plans were initiated from the capital city, Accra to the detriment of those the programmes were intended for. All Assemblymen/Women are supposed to be in charge of the day to day administration of their electoral areas nationwide. Do they know this? They are supposed to organize periodic communal labours to clean gutters and weed bushy surroundings in their electoral areas – Do they do it since 1996 to date? The answers are capital No. All Assembly members are supposed to meet the electorate before attending Assembly meetings in order to put across the concerns of the very people who elected them and go back to brief their people about what went on at the Assemblies. Do they do this? The answer is again capital NO.

At best, most Assemblymen could be seen at the offices of the MMDCE’S looking for contracts – others become very passive, while others have turned themselves into funeral committee members in their electoral areas because NOBODY WANTS TO BE CALLED A BAD GUY for implementing the sanitary bye-laws of the Assemblies, further more, some Assembly members have become professional Bail Contractors at the various Police Stations nation wide, and these attitudes are completly ALIEN TO THE ASSEMBLY CONCEPT. The PNDC brought power from the Centre to the Grassroots but it is gradually going back to the centre step by step. The then District Secretaries were the Heads of the District mass movement as well as the Heads of Executives Committee. I have been moved to write this article after reading the Presidents State of the Nation Address in which he stated that every effort will be made to ensure that District Chief Executives are elected at the Local Level, so in my opinion, it is a giant trap set by the Constitutional Review Committee for the President to step on. Therefore, I am strongly suggesting to the President NOT to allow the election of DCE’s in his first term as he stated because of the above stated reasons since the District Assembly concept is currently been deviated from its original path. The NPP promised to ensure that DCEs were elected when they came to power – that was the then candidate Kufour in 2000, yet when he came to power, he refused to do it for very good political reasons, because DCE’s must be appointed by the President and be dismissed by him because if they are elected the President can never sack them This is the main reason why I am advising my Northern brother NOT TO TOW THE LINE OF THE Constitutional Review Committee by allowing DCE’s to be elected since it will be a political suicide to do so now, for it is simply not advisable. It is a giant trap set for him. so don’t go there at all now. The NDC I under president Rawlings passed a very bad Law on causing financial loss to the State because they wanted to apply it to the NPP members after the 2000 elections, Rawlings ignored his cadres advice and it was passed, the Law was used against the very Rawlings cabinet and they (NPP) government even tried to jail his wife on top.

So, Mr. President kindly consider this suggestion. I shall return in part 2 of this article. I am done I shall return when the need arise.

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CLEMENT

MUNICIPAL ORGANIZER

UNITD CADRES FRONT

OBUASI

DISTRIBUTION

ALL MEDIA HOUSES

ACCRA/GHANA

E-mail: clementsang@yahoo.com