Presented by Bernard Mornah, General Secretary 1 | 5 PEOPLE’S NATIONAL CONVENTION POSITION PAPER ON ACCERALATING DECENTRALIZATION AND IMPROVING LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN GHANA AT AKOSOMB, 14th-15th NOVEMBER, 2009.
Introduction and definition:
Madam Chairperson, Honourable Sector Minister, KAB Governance Consult, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Comrades from Other Political Parties, Friends of the inky and electronic fraternity, Ladies & Gentleman Decentralization is a basic component of democratic governance, as it serves as conduit for an enabling environment in which decision making and service delivery are felt by the masses. Decentralization is essential to achieving the internationally set Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Ghana's decentralization programme humbly began in 1988 with an objective to promote effective and accountable local government in Ghana. District Assemblies (MM/DAs) - the local government Assemblies have been designated as the:
- The highest political and administrative authority
- Planning authorities
- Development authorities
- Budgeting authority
- Rating authorities.
Consequently, the MM/DAs have been given 86 functions that empower them to provide decentralized and devolved local public services. The MM/DAs on the advice of District Tender Boards, can award contracts not exceeding 25,000 Ghana cedi. MM/DAs are the sole taxing authority in the districts; they make by-laws, which are subject to approval by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development before they become operative. The reality of devolution of authority to the MM/DAs reveals the centralizing features of Ghana's decentralization experiment. 1. All by-laws are approved by the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development. 2. The President has the power to dissolve defaulting or non-performing MM/DAs without consulting the electorate.
3. The minister of Local Government and Rural Development has power to issue guidelines, in respect of fees to be charged by the MM/DAs for the service and facilities provided licenses and permits issued or rates levied by MM/DAs.
4. According to Section 88 of the Local Government Act, Act 462, the MM/DAs require central government guarantee to raise loans in excess of 25, 000 Ghana cedi. As a result the effectiveness of the MM/DAs in discharging their functions as the highest political authority in the district are undermined, and their responsibilities have been restricted to local issues only.
Benefits of Decentralization Decentralization increases popular participation in decision making because it brings government closer to people, making it more accessible and more responsive to peoples' demands. Local authorities act more in line with local preferences and conditions, and their response to local needs will be more expeditious. It will provide opportunities to marginalised sectors of the community, like women etc., to participate at the local level, enabling a more sensitive approach to policy formulation and implementation. Decentralization when done properly, tends to enhance transparency and accountability, the amount of money wrongfully diverted away from development often declines. Decentralization makes development projects more sustainable and cost effective because local people are more likely to be involved in their design, execution, and monitoring Decentralization encourages communities to find solutions to their everyday problems, yielding innovative ideas, which are more attuned to local conditions. Because of a greater degree of accountability, responsiveness and participation, effective Decentralization can make a big difference by making the provision of local (social and economic) services more efficient, equitable, sustainable and cost-effective.
Through community participation in decision making, planning, implementation and monitoring and backed by appropriate institutions and resources, it can go a long way in improving the quality of life, particularly of the poorer and marginalised sectors of the population, thereby alleviating poverty. Decentralization provides opportunities for more people, including the under-represented groups to participate in decisions that affect their lives. Decentralization increases effectiveness in service delivery, like reducing absenteeism among government employees Current State of Decentralization
There appear to be only political decentralization M/DCE’s Appointed by President-indirectly elected by assemblies Power to award contracts are not vested in assemblies Lower structures are non-functional/non-existent (Unit committee/Area Councils) Assembly elections are non-partisan Assemblies draw funds from Central government DACF + locally generated fund Unit Committees elected Challenges to Decentralization Assemblies have assumed partisanship Decentralization must affect all other sectors Education, Agriculture Funds are not forth coming Central government procure for assemblies E.G Zoomlion, Diary, Calendars 30% Appointees has imposed a burden as most of them are cronies. De-cencentration of resources Finance: The main sources of revenue of MM/DAs are rates, fees, and levies. In addition, the MM/DAs receive money from the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) and grants-in aid under Article 252 of the Constitution and 55% of the Stool Land revenue. In practice there is no evidence from official documents whether grants-in-aid have been given to the MM/DAs. DACF has a major influence on the operations of the MM/DAs, however the approach adopted by DACF has increased instead of reducing the control of centre over MM/DAs' functions. The decisions of the DACF have been usurped by the central government so that the MM/DAs remain talking shops without finance to implement their decisions. Consequently the continued central control has prevented the DACF from being an instrument of decentralization and democratization. The introduction of the DACF has made the MM/DAs over-rely on its proceeds rather than acting as an incentive to mobilize resources locally. DACF is also suffering from irregularity in disbursement of funds, lack of transparency and lack of discretion afforded to district authority over the allocation of funds. Presented by Bernard Mornah, General Secretary 4 | 5 Fiscal Decentralization: Composite budgeting has not been implemented because of the unwillingness of the Ministry of Finance. Moreover centralized laws such as the Financial Administration Decree (FAD), 1979 and Financial Administration Regulation (FAR), Financial Memorandum of Local and Urban Councils, 1961 and even the Local Government Act do not promote a segregation of DA budget from that of the central government. Personnel: MM/DAs are confronted by lack of competent personnel at district level. While devolution of authority imposes increasing demands for services at the local level and requires well-trained local functionaries, the economic conditions of Ghana, administrative and structural reforms suggest less government spending and fewer government agents. lack of public awareness and an absence of a culture of participation and a weak "voice'' of particularly the poor and marginalized sections of the population has inhibited the development of: firstly, a two way accountability system whereby local governments are not only supervised by an effective state government from above but also a strong civil society from below; secondly, a local government system which is responsive to the needs of all sections of populations, particularly the poor and the marginalized. As a matter of fact, the decision making process is dominated by local elites and government functionaries with little, if any, participation by the masses. Ways of Accelerating/improving Decentralization Decentralization should affect sectors like education, Agriculture etc M/DCE’s must be elected for effective local participation and choice of their own leadership. In our view, this will ensure real accountability and responsiveness to the people at the grassroots. Election of Unit Committee Members has imposed a major challenge and must be reviewed.eg death of a member requires cumbersome electoral processes for replacement. Reduce number of Government appointees to 10% to limit the chance of introducing “junk members” based on political patronage for purposes of confirming nominated MM/DCES For the concept of Decentralization to really seep, the MMDAs require skilled and semiskilled personnel. It is imperative for the expansion and extension of QUALITY EDUCATION covering the entire nation so as to augment the current paucity “technical, professional and special” manpower needs of the MMDAs There is the urgent need for the provision and expansion of desirable infrastructure to Districts so that Cottage Industries can thrive with effects of increasing domestic revenue mobilization thus providing financial autonomy to MMDAs Presented by Bernard Mornah, General Secretary 5 | 5 We further advocate that powers of the President to Create Assemblies be redirected to the Electoral Commission or Parliament so as to avoid the creation of Assemblies based on undue partisan interests. We applaud H. E John Evans Atta Mills’ pledge to institute a Constituency Development Fund cognizant of the reality that MPs have become “pillars” of local development. This must be guided however by appropriate regulatory framework. We hope that this pledge will not suffer the fate of the “funding of political parties” under President Kufour with the question of “when and how”. Conclusions Twenty one years have passed since the decentralization programme initiated in Ghana, some progress has been made in decentralizing the authority, resources, but at large the programme failed to achieve the objectives set out due to inadequacy of fiscal, and human resources needed to implement and sustain the programmes; over interference of central government in the functioning of local authorities and also lack of a political process that promotes accountability, responsiveness and representation at the local government level. Finally, we pose the question whether “good elections” means democracy and or does good democracy necessarily mean good elections? Whatever the answer may be in your opinions, the PNC thinks that the issue of “one woman, one vote must be in sync with the axiom, one vote, one bread” only then will our democracy be respected. I thank you
