Let’s get local people in community development

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• Kojo T 10 years ago

  Long over due

  Long over due

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• A ABU 10 years ago

  EVEN IF LONG OVERDUE IT IS BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

  EVEN IF LONG OVERDUE IT IS BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

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• Abeeku Mensah 10 years ago

  The 1992 constitution which gave legal grounds for the decentralization of rural and urban development was nothing more than a show of the copycat skills of Ghana's high and mighty folks lacking in common sense, foresight an ...
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  The 1992 constitution which gave legal grounds for the decentralization of rural and urban development was nothing more than a show of the copycat skills of Ghana's high and mighty folks lacking in common sense, foresight and wisdom. It is the handy work of Ghanaians who have been brain washed and ignorant enough to think that anything that works well in some far away land, just as long as it's from one of those beloved foreign countries, will produce magical results in our country. Decentralized local governments work where there is a sustainable local tax base and effective collection of fees and taxes at local and national level through business transactions and other means. What and where are the basis for taxation in any small town Ghana that can sustain development of the infrastructure magnitude? So for as long as people do not pay taxes religiously and there is cold day in hell that there will be honsety and vigilance in tax collection every dysfunctional district in Ghana will come begging a broke and corrupt national government for money it does not have to support a hasty decentralization plan befitting of the empty suits who dreamt it.

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• Kwabena Yeboah 10 years ago

  The writer's prescription for development efforts in our communities sounds to me like Kutu Acheampong's unigov proposition in the mid 70s. I read the article wondering, what could be furthest from the truth having the assemb ...
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  The writer's prescription for development efforts in our communities sounds to me like Kutu Acheampong's unigov proposition in the mid 70s. I read the article wondering, what could be furthest from the truth having the assembly members chosen from all backgrounds in the community? Isn't this the reason for the assemblies?
  
  There is a serious abrogation of conviction of purpose in the Ghanaian mindset. Yes, the Constitution was designed by Ghanaians with the goal of decentralizing power, but like many other systems we have elaborately copied from the western democracies, we have failed to master the exigencies of decentralization in a unitary state. How can our Constitution vests absolute power in one branch of government (the Executive), decentralize the same power to local governments? As they say, you can't have your cake and eat it.
  
  But the real thrust of the matter is, decentralization will never be effective without building strong institutions - and by that I mean; law, order and good government must prevail in our democracy in order for it to gain currency. No democracy can survive without these three democratic qualifiers. Decentralization means the central government ceding some limited powers to the local government in the area of revenue (tax) collection. This is not practical in our present weak institutions where law, order and good government do not exist. For decentralization to be effect in Ghana, we must first build strong institutions - 1) our laws must work without favour; 2) we must build a systematic (order) of doing all business and government transactions; and educate the electorate their rights to exercise their vote wisely (good government)
  
  To see what pertains in some western democracies in the area of decentralization of power, the Canadian experience would suffice.
  
  Canada is a Federal country, comprising of 10 provinces and territories. To ensure that all the 10 provinces and territories are developed evenly - which also means, there is equal level of government services and standard of living in all provinces and territories, the Federal government what it calls 'Equalization Policy'. In this policy, the Federal government is responsible for collecting all tax Revenues from the provinces and territories, and based on a formula agreed upon by the provinces and territories, determines the rich provinces and not so rich provinces and territories. Then based on the formula, sufficient tax revenue from the total tax collected for the year is transferred from the rich provinces to the poorer provinces to maintain standards across the country. This very smart policy has helped to maintain equilibrium in population movement from poorer to richer provinces and territories. A Canadian who lives in Saskatchewan would have no need to move to Toronto or Vancouver, because she/he enjoys the same amenities as those who live in big cities. This has become possible in Canada because there are strong institutions inherent in the Canadian system, which also means, there is law, order and good government - a veritable ingredient in democracy.

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• cool hrt 10 years ago

  As a community development student in university for development studies my suggestion is that, state should remember to give the felt needs of the people and not what the state feel like given them in other to avoid white el ...
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  As a community development student in university for development studies my suggestion is that, state should remember to give the felt needs of the people and not what the state feel like given them in other to avoid white elephant. thank you.

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